A/N: Bit of a short one this week as we finish up the first half of the tournament, but I'll make it up to you all soon enough, because after this it's time for the endgame of Sword and Shield! Enjoy the chapter.
"First Interview! You promised!" Veronica shouted as Allister and I took our first step off the pitch. She was beaming and full of energy, with Mac hoisting his camera up despite being out of breath – they must have rushed to the edge of the pitch from the second Bewear fell to the ground.
"Alright, alright," I laughed. "You want to say anything to Allister?" I turned to where he was, but he was already going the other direction, far from the reporters gathering behind Veronica. "Fair 'nough," I sighed, turning back to her.
"Great showing, as always," Veronica said into her mic. "Hope you've got good answers for me, because you're going to need to repeat them to everyone behind me." Mac snickered.
She wasn't kidding. Trying to make it back to the changing room meant being stopped by what seemed to be the entire population of Galar, all eager to ask me either what was going through my mind, what would have happened if Gengar didn't faint, why I never evolved Sneasel, or any combination of the three. My answers grew shorter and shorter and after five minutes of answering I just tucked my head down and pushed through the crowd, saying I needed to rest my team up before my next match.
As soon as I made it into the safety of the underground tunnels connecting the pitches, I bumped right into Hop, who had been hoping to catch the tail end of my battle. His first match went even more smoothly than mine – he only had to use Snorlax in his battle.
"I call it the 'Sleep Sweep,'" he explained. "No doubt you'll see it when I knock you out of the single-elimination half of the tourney."
"Good name, because I could sweep you in my sleep," I jabbed. "But nice job on the easy win. Allister was tough but nothing Sneasel and Bewear couldn't handle."
"I'm not surprised," Hop nodded. "Brilliant job, mate. C'mon, I think Vic's battle is set to start any minute, we gotta catch what we can!" And he rushed off before I could even reply. All I could do was roll my eyes and follow him.
And that was the way the first half of the tournament panned out. Eight Trainers and a Gym Leader in each heat, each battling twice a day and running between the various pitches to get a glimpse of others in their battles. The battles were quick but fierce, and as much as I hated to agree with Klara, the rankings from the season didn't seem to matter. As the week wore on, almost every trainer would win big and lose big, save for six exceptions.
The first was Hop, naturally. Between Snorlax, Rillaboom, Corviknight, and Dubwool, most of his opponents were simply stumped. They could hit his Pokémon as hard as they could, but it never seemed to do quite enough damage to stop his momentum. The only trainer that seemed to have any luck against him was Raihan, and though it came down to the wire during their battle, Hop still managed to pull ahead when Corviknight landed a particularly devastating blow to Goodra. He won all nine battles in his heat.
The second, Marnie, also came as no surprise either, though from what I saw, her battles were wildly different than Hop's. Where Hop's matches turned into slugfests with Pokémon using their best and strongest moves against each other, Marnie had trained her team to fight with surgical precision. Her Liepard and Morpeko were unstoppable for most of the matches they battled in, staying far enough away from any immediate danger before finding their opening and landing a heavy hit, and her Grimmsnarl was terrifying to see in action, always seeming to be one step ahead of any Pokémon that dared face him. Marnie only lost one battle in her heat: a nailbiter between her and Gordie, Melony's son and Rock-type gym leader to be. Both were down to their last Pokémon – Marnie with Morpeko and Gordie with a massive sooty black Coalossal, whose strong defenses were just too much for Morpeko and let loose an Earthquake to end the battle, but it wasn't enough to knock Marnie out of the top of her heat, nor was it enough to bother her past that battle. Her next battle was against Klara, who lost all three of her Pokémon to Marnie's Toxicroak, who barely even seemed to be trying.
Third was Victor. He held his own fairly well, winning six of his nine, squeaking past Milo in the rankings by beating him in the final match. Milo had a surprising strategy of his own, with his Ludicolo summoning a rainstorm that dampened Arcanine's firepower long enough to knock him out. Victor managed to take him out with Urshifu, but Milo changed the weather again with his Cherrim. It banished the rain and brought sunlight that made the stadium feel like summer, and before Urshifu could even get another hit in, he was slammed by a Dazzling Gleam that fully lived up to its namesake. Victor countered with Slowking, who was able to really lay into Cherrim and then Appletun, Milo's third and final Pokémon.
I, like Hop, found myself winning every match – my bout with Allister set the tone for my entire heat. Most matches I found myself rarely needing to slip into a third Pokémon. Cinderace and Bewear were heavy hitters that never disappointed, but everyone pulled their own weight and then some. Sneasel and Boltund were both so quick to move that few could come near her them, and though Flygon and Rapidash were far from slow, trainers tended to keep their distance from them as well, choosing to attack from a distance if at all possible. The fight I was afraid of the most ended up being a landslide. Bea, who was eager for a rematch after our tough fight back in Stow-on-Side, came swinging with Machamp right away, but Rapidash didn't give an inch. She blasted Machamp with a Dazzling Gleam and while it was steel reeling from the bright light, Rapidash rushed in for the KO with her horn down; a Zen Headbutt no fighting type could hope to counter. The strategy proved to be Bea's weak point, as her second and third Pokémon, a Grapploct and a very quick Hawlucha, couldn't overtake the combination.
Fifth was Leon, again, as no surprise to anyone. His matches were always the most densely populated, and for good reason – not only did he win every single battle, but his matches were also undeniably fun. His Pokémon would attack with devastating power but also with incredible grace and beauty. Charizard's bursts of fire put anything to shame, showing each stadium with glittering embers after every attack. His Dragapult was so speedy that it would do a lap around the entire stadium whenever he came out, zipping past excited spectators only yards away from them. His battles had him constantly switching out between five of his Pokémon – Charizard, Haxorus, Dragapult, Seismitoad, and Aegislash, but his switches were never purely out of necessity. Out of nine whole battles, no trainer in his heat could knock out a single Pokémon of his. I didn't need to listen to the nightly analysis by every news channel covering the tourney to know that he was the easy favorite of the tournament this year.
And finally, there was one more contestant who had been blowing away his competition, much to my and especially Hop's annoyance – Bede. Opal and he shared the top spots of their heat, winning seven each. Bede ended up taking the top spot in his, finally overtaking his new mentor in a match that I sat in on purely out of curiosity. After the match, Opal walked past me and smiled that strange, knowing, smirk that she always had when she was up to something (her default expression, as far as I knew), but didn't speak a word to me. Bede, thankfully, was also largely silent throughout the course of the tournament, keeping his distance from not just my friends and me, but all other contestants entirely. I caught him watching us a couple times, only to make a strange expression and turn away the second our eyes met. The quiet and chilly reception from him was surprisingly welcome by us, at any rate.
When we weren't battling, we mostly stayed inside the complex, on request of Macro Cosmos and the Pokémon League. That didn't stop some of the bolder trainers from sneaking out and talking to fans, and as the week wore on, almost every trainer in the competition had snuck out, at least to get a small change of scenery. Victor and I both met up with Sonia for lunch a couple of times, and on the second time, she was able to confirm that the sword and shield had returned to the Circhester Bathhouse, albeit under heavy guard. She also gave us a rather tepid warning to not try and steal them, but she undercut herself immediately afterword, noting that if Eternatus escaped from the Master Ball, a bit of theft was probably going to go unnoticed.
"Not that I, like, condone it or anything," she said slyly as she sipped a bubble tea. "Now that I'm an esteemed professor, I actually highly discourage you from doing something crazy and fun like that. Sorry, not fun, I mean, dangerous. And even if you have the absolute gall to do something irresponsible like that, I hope you would at least have the wherewithal to bring a responsible adult researcher to assist you—"
"Subtle," Victor snorted. Sonia winked at him and twirled her hair.
On the fourth day of the tournament, Mum arrived, and join Hop's family in the stands (they had been there all week). She offered multiple times to take Marnie and me out to lunch, in the I'm-sorry-I-disapproved-of-your-girlfriend-but-still-have-concerns-about-her way that only a mother could have. Marnie immediately passed on the offer, but after some insisting agreed to tentatively do it once the tournament was over.
"She shit-talks Spikemuth again and I'm leavin' her with the bill," she warned.
"She was planning on paying anyway," I reminded her. "And you know I'm not going to allow it."
Marnie paused. "An' I'm invitin' my bro, too. Figure she should see the best of Spikemuth before she makes any more stupid comments."
"She's already seen the best of Spikemuth," I said, grabbing her hands and kissing her softly.
"Get a room," Piers grunted as he stalked past us.
Finally, after five days, the Fat Fletchling portion of the tournament was over. With the top two advancing from each heat, only sixteen trainers and gym leaders qualified for the second half of the tourney, and while the rest of the contestants were allowed to stay in the hotel with us until the tournament's end, they would no longer be allowed to utilize the underground tunnels to make it to each pitch. Not that they'd really need to – all matches from here on out would take place in the massive Rose-shaped stadium at the heart of the complex. The sixteen trainers would be ranked and seeded according to their performance in the first half of the tourney, based on some complicated algorithm I wasn't smart enough or interested enough in to understand, and they would be announced on that afternoon. Until then, the entirety of Galar could only speculate who was battling whom. Outside of Milo, who Victor had narrowly pushed into third place, all of the gym leaders had qualified.
"If I get knocked out in this, it better be to one of you lot," Hop joked to us as we settled around a comfy pair of couches in the lobby of the hotel. Almost all of the sixteen trainers who qualified were in the lobby as well, save for Leon and Piers. Most were milling about with a couple friends or other trainers. Bede sat in the opposite corner, avoiding eye contact with anyone.
"I'd be glad to," I shot back, my eyes narrowed in a playful threat.
"Can we just take a moment to celebrate all of us getting into the top sixteen?" Victor asked with a sigh.
"Sounds like something someone who gets out in the first round would say," I replied. Victor tossed a pillow at me, and I swiftly dodged it, and as I turned to pick it up, I saw Piers approaching us. His hair looked a little extra frazzled and behind him, his Obstagoon walked gingerly behind them. He must have just come from his final battle.
"Good to see you all alive and well," he said bluntly, nodding to each of us in turn. "This where we waitin' for the brackets to go up?"
"Yeah," Marnie said. "Last battle go alright?"
"Of course," Piers grinned, lowering his head just enough so his sharp green eyes glinted vibrantly behind his baggy eyes. "Some punk in a top hat and a bunch of Psychic types. Obstagoon never gave 'im a shot." Obstagoon grinned from behind Piers.
"Avery, right?" Victor asked. "He trained on the Isle with me."
"Dunno," Piers said with a shrug. "Ran off as soon as the battle was over.
Victor let out a soft laugh. "Yeah, he's…a lot. It's probably best he didn't stick around. Nice job on the win, though."
Piers sneered. "Marn, your new friends are too nice," he grumbled before walking off to another section of the lobby.
"I can't say I'm sure how to take that," Victor laughed nervously.
"It was obviously a compliment," Marnie said shortly, getting up and making to follow him.
"LEE!" Hop bellowed suddenly, stopping Marnie and her brother in their tracks. All of us turned to the entrance and sure enough, Leon walked in. Instantly, the room started buzzing, but as soon as it started, it stopped, as Leon stepped to the side and held the door for the two people who followed him in – Chairman Rose and Oleana themselves. Every trainer and gym leader in the lobby, both those that were still in the tournament and those that weren't, stopped and turned. There was only one reason the chairman could have come in.
"Thank you for the introduction, young Mr. Nambarek," Rose said with a chuckle as he walked past Leon's outstretched arm. His gaze was fixed on Hop a little too long before he turned to face each of the other trainers in the lobby. Well, everyone aside from Bede, whom he passed over entirely. Bede remained stewing in the opposite corner of the room. Oleana kept her eyes fixed on Rose, her face completely devoid of emotion. Rose cleared his throat and walked to the center of the lobby.
Leon closed the door behind them after a third person with a strange machine in his arms followed Rose and Oleana. Immediately the man started to set up the machine near the front of the lobby as Leon made his way over to us. I quickly recognized it as a large Holo Caster, a shiny looking device that looked like it was straight out of Lysandre Labs itself. He flicked a switch on the device and a bright blue light shot out of it, emitting particles of light that slowly arranged themselves into a two-sided bracket.
"This is it, mate!" Hop whispered to us. He was already shaking with excitement.
"First of all, let me congratulate every one of you for making this a Pokémon League Tournament to remember!" Rose cried, extending his arms out to everyone in the lobby. "Viewership rates were through the roof – highest ratings in three years! Although that's much more exciting to me than to you, I'd assume. Hah. But I assure you, all of you are the cream of the crop, proving once again that Galar's Pokémon trainers are the best on the planet. What a phenomenal week of battles this has been, and we're only just getting started!
"Now, I know you're excited to see the final bracket, but a bit of housekeeping first. It's quick, I promise! We will officially announce these tonight in Rose Stadium, so please do not share any of this information with the public until it is up then!"
Leon finally made his way to us, resting a hand both on Hop's shoulder and my own. I glanced to him, and he gave me a warm smile. "Been watchin' the both of you when I wasn't battling myself," he said, beaming. "I'm so proud of how much you've grown as trainers. Endorsing you was the smartest decision I've ever made."
"Aw, Lee…" Hop smiled, his face turning pink.
"Second, the format for remaining League battles is as follows: Six Pokémon per trainer, only one on the field at a time. First trainer to knock out all six of their opponent's Pokémon will advance. You may use Dynamax or Gigantamax techniques, but only once per battle, so should you make that choice, choose wisely, And, of course, give it your all. It's the championships, after all!"
He took a pause for any response. There were a few trainers around us who clapped, but most of us remained silent, instead focusing our attention on the empty bracket behind him. I looked over my shoulder to Leon and he looked down at me and nodded his head once, squeezing his hand on my shoulder. Whatever message he was trying to convey was lost on me, so I looked back at Rose and Oleana and studied them a bit more closely. They looked well-rested, and Rose looked as cheery as I had ever seen him. I took slight solace in the thought that Eternatus must have still been under control; how else could he look so carefree? Oleana was too tough and blank-faced to read, as usual. This was all just another transaction for her, nothing new on that front.
"Okay, fine, I'll show you the brackets now," Rose said with an exaggerated sigh, bringing another, more excitable round of applause from the lobby. He turned to Oleana and muttered something, and she in turn walked to the Holo Caster and typed something into it. Before the final keystroke, she looked up and looked directly to me. Her brow seemed to furrow for the briefest of moments before she looked back down at the machine. One more button press caused another series of blue beams to rise from the Holo Caster, spelling out the names of the remaining trainers in the competition, each taking their place on opposite ends of the bracket above.
"This year," Rose continued, "We had a very interesting layout – eight gym challengers, seven gym leaders, and of course, the indomitable and unbeatable Leon. I think Galar as a whole would love to see our strongest trainer take on our strongest champion, so I may have rigged the brackets just in the slightest. On the left, you'll see your wonderful remaining gym leaders and Leon making up the first bracket, and on the right, you'll see our bracket of trainers. Best of luck to each of you and remember! No telling until after tonight's reveal!" And just as the letters finally became clear enough to read, he slipped out of the entrance to the hotel with Oleana right behind him.
Sure enough, the brackets were completely split between challengers and gym leaders. Murmurs of people reading names turned into excited shouting as everyone looked around to see their first opponents.
"Alright, this is what I'm talking about!" Hop cried, pumping his fists in front of himself.
"It's fine, I s'pose," Marnie said nonchalantly, as Piers groaned about the horrible luck of battling Opal in round one.
It took me a while to find my name, but eventually I found it, all the way at the bottom of the bracket. Upon reading his name, I gasped and turned to face my opponent for the first round.
"Well, it was about time we've had a proper battle anyway, wouldn't you think?" Victor asked.
A/N: 66 whole chapters and I'm finally having the twins battle each other. Hope it will be worth the wait lmao. And then after that, it's semifinals, and then the final match! You...well if you've played Pokemon Sword/Shield, those matchups aren't going to be a huge surprise, but don't worry, I've got a couple things up my sleeve still ;). See you next week!
NEXT WEEK: SIBLING RIVALRY
