Within a couple hours, Apex actually had a tent that didn't look completely terrible. It was mostly because they got Team Spark to help them out, but still. Not the worst place to spend the next couple nights
After Lucario checked in on them to make sure they managed to survive the dungeon up, they were free to do whatever they wanted for the rest of the day.
Blizz took the opportunity to explore the plateau, looking around for anything he might not have noticed when he first arrived. While most of the constructions were temporary, there were a few cabins that seemed to be permanent, one of which had a red cross on the outside.
Across from those was a much larger tent than anything he saw at the campsites. He peeked inside and saw four parallel tables with seats. It kinda reminded him of the mess hall in the guild.
Past those was the arena, which was the most interesting part of mountaintop to Blizz.
The arena itself was a circle around 10 yards long. It looked like a wood structure, elevated a foot or two off the ground. There was fencing along the outside of it that kinda reminded Blizz of a wrestling arena.
… Actually, that's probably what this was.
Surrounding the arena were five sets of bleachers, one of which was around four times as large as the others.
Each set of the smaller bleachers had a sign sticking out of them. Unfortunately for Blizz, it was too far away for his badge to translate, so he could only guess what they said for now.
Content with his exploration, he returned to camp. On his way back, he walked past Hydreigon's campsite. He gave a wave to Zorua, who reciprocated with an awkward smile.
At Lucario's camp, most of the guild was gathered around another campfire. Not really needing the warmth in the same way that many of his teammates did, he took a seat towards the rear of the group.
It was weird to see Lucario and Scizor joining in with the rest of them though.
"So then this dude said 'We have created a monster more powerful than you could ever imagine' and of course we beat the shit out of him, cause you know, he's a dick, but it turned out the monster wasn't actually a bluff…"
Blizz idly listened to Lucario's story, watching the way the other teams moved in and out through their own campsites.
"So it turned out to be this big-ass psychic cat-"
"It was derived from Mew's DNA," Scizor interjected.
"Right, basically this clone of Mew and it was just fucking pissed off. Wouldn't calm down, ended up having to fight him. And of course my attacks did jack shit because I'm really good at punching and that's not what works against psychics so it was up to the other guys to take him down-"
"Was it more than just you and Scizor?" Chimchar asked.
"Yea, that was back when Hydreigon was on our team. Before he became such a fucking cunt…"
"Perhaps we should focus on the story," Scizor interrupted before Lucario could go on a rant.
"Right. So Mewtwo was mad, Hydreigon's always mad, I was mad because I wasn't hurting him at all, and that was making all of us act like dumbasses which makes Scizor mad, so our last dude basically just slapped the shit out of us to make us come to our senses. Then we beat the shit out of Mewtwo and that part was a blast."
"That battle was one of the most difficult experiences of my life," Scizor pointed out.
"Which was why it was a blast. Anyways, then he realized that trying to kill everyone because he didn't think he should be alive was stupid and realized that being alive was actually really fucking cool, so he travelled around with our team for like a week I think?"
"Mewtwo was a member of Team Breaker for six days."
"Right, he was with us for basically a week before some Latias or whatever came up to us and said 'hey you're a legendary, you're not allowed to be this involved with normal Pokemon' and we were really fucking mad again but he was super chill about it and they ended up taking him to wherever the hell legendaries hang out. Haven't seen that big bastard since…"
"Your adventures always seem so grand compared to anything we have done," Hawlucha commented.
"That's why I took over the guild," Lucario assured. "If none of you have an experience like that before you graduate that means I fucked up, not you."
"Is that why you care so much about everyone having courage?" Shinx asked.
"That is exactly fucking why. I don't let cowards in this guild, it's my job to bring the badass out of you."
There was a comfortable silence afterwards, broken by a Loudred standing between all four guild's campsites.
"DINNER'S SERVED! IF YOU'RE A COMPETITOR, GO GET YOUR GRUB AT THE MESS HALL!"
Blizz joined the rest of his guild as they meandered into the large tent he saw earlier. At each table was a plate of food that seemed near-identical to what they would eat back in Nova Town.
Lucario's Guild took a table closest to the wall. As Blizz sat down at the end with the rest of Team Apex, he noticed Hydreigon's guild come in and take the table at the opposite end.
"This feels like it will be a waste of time," the Prince complained between bites. "We could be doing more productive things than engaging in some watered down form of the olympic games."
"Come on, this is gonna be fun," Kibo argued. "It's a break from exploring dungeons every day."
"…I suppose that is the one upside of this arrangement."
Kibo smiled. "That's the spirit."
"Are we really going to do that well though?" Rune asked. "Everyone here looks so strong…"
"I mean, we're almost silver," Blizz responded. "We can probably manage. Plus, tomorrow should be the battle. We're… decent at fighting as a team."
The Prince stared at Blizz. "I would prefer our results not be a direct byproduct of how effectively we can cooperate with each other."
Rune nodded. "Yea, if winning is gonna be about working with the Prince, we should probably just save our energy for another competition."
"Hey, you guys seem to get along alright in dungeons. Just think of this as another one of those."
"Any alliance between us is the result of a more pressing concern," the Prince explained. "It matters little whether this stems from the inherent challenges of a dungeon or confronting one of your less intelligent ideas."
"Hey, my ideas are always great."
"No they're not." Rune and the Prince said at the same time.
"Still, we really should try," Kibo argued. "It's good training, since the Pokemon we usually fight ain't all that bright."
"Fine. I will make an effort, however if I decide it to be a fool's errand, I will resign myself."
Blizz decided to accept it. "That's… a start."
For the second day in a row, Team Apex was not woken up by one of Lucario's shouts.
"IT'S 7 AM, OPENING CEREMONY STARTS IN ONE HOUR!"
Blizz couldn't tell who yelled that from inside the tent, but he figured it was a safe bet to say it was the same Loudred as yesterday.
Team Apex climbed out of their tents, meeting up with the rest of the guild. Lucario was standing on a table in the center of the campsite, which everyone else seemed to crowd around.
"If any of you fucks are still in your tent get the hell out! We got some games today!" he shouted.
He waited a bit as a few more stragglers came by, before taking a head count.
"That's Blitz, Arctic, Drill, Spark, and Apex…" He was muttering, but even then his voice was still loud enough for everyone to hear.
"That's everyone! Now listen up, today is the opening ceremony, then they're doing the free for all fight! Except the stupid fucking pencil pushers decided that a clusterfuck with around 50 Pokemon was a bad idea, so they decided to break it into a bracket this year. Doesn't mean that we're not gonna win, but we're gonna be fighting in teams of two. If anyone is so pissed off by this that they don't want to fight, let me know now."
No one said anything.
"Good, I knew you fuckers wouldn't pussy out. So figure out your teams on the way there. Now it's time to get hyped! I wanna hear those yells echo off the mountain!"
Following a chorus of yells from the guild, Lucario cleared his throat. "IT WAS TWELVE HUNDRED AND THIRTEEN!"
After one of the more aggressive chants he's done since arriving, Blizz and the rest of the guild walked off towards the arena, where they climbed into one of the smaller sets of bleachers.
The other guilds climbed into the remaining three bleachers, while the massive set across from them seemed to be filled with spectators. Blizz could make out some of their cheers from here.
"Go Nova!"
"Bring it home Tenea!"
"I want you to have my babies, Hawlucha!"
Blizz decided to stop making out some of their cheers.
Despite that, the excitement in the arena felt real as Loudred stepped into the center. The crowds started quieting down, waiting to hear what he would say.
Loudred paused, letting the feeling of quiet build tension.
He then proceeded to utterly shatter it.
"WELCOME TO THE 32ND ANNUAL GUILDED GAMES!" He shouted, causing the arena to explode into a round of cheering. "I'M YOUR HOST, THE ONE, THE ONLY, LOUDRED!"
A Toxicroak wandered into the area, carrying an oversized lit torch with him.
"Seriously?" The Prince muttered. "They even do the torch!"
"NOW, WHO'S READY FOR ACTION!"
Loudred got even more cheering as a response.
"THEN LET'S LIGHT IT UP!"
The Toxicroak waddled past the arena, but lost his balance on the step up, face planting and dropping the torch on the arena.
Toxicroak got out quickly, but the arena was now on fire.
"YOU KNOW WHAT? WE'LL RUN WITH THIS. THE FIRE OF HO-OH, RAN HERE ALL THE WAY FROM GREMIS KEEP!"
There was another round of cheering as the arena continued to combust.
"NOW LET'S INTRODUCE THE GUILDMASTERS. FROM GREMIS IN THE SOUTHEAST, SAID TO BE THE SMARTEST POKÉMON IN ALL OF VARIN, GIVE IT UP FOR BEHEEYEM!"
Beheeyem floated over the arena. He used Psychic to move the flames out of the way of where he was hovering over, before descending. "Our victory is assured!"
"I'M SURE IT IS BEHEEYEM, I'M SURE IT IS. NOW, FROM THE CASCIAN ARCHIPELAGO, THE MASTER OF THE SEAS, IT'S GOLISOPOD!"
Golisopod curled into a ball and rolled through the fire, uncurling in the arena. A light Hydro Pump managed to extinguish enough flames for him to comfortably stand in the blaze. "We gon' git dat trophy!"
"NEXT UP, REPRESENTING THE GREAT CITY OF TENEA, AND LAST YEAR'S RUNNER-UP, HYDREIGON!"
Hydreigon flew over the arena and just dropped down, not bothering to do anything about the flames.
"Our failure last year was a fuck-up, and we won't be repeating it!"
That seemed to draw more of a reaction from the crowd than the other guildmasters managed so far.
"OOH, SOUNDS LIKE FIGHTING WORDS TO ME. LET'S SEE IF HE CAN BACK THEM UP AGAINST THE FINAL GUILD. LAST YEAR'S CHAMPION, HAILING FROM NOVA TOWN AND ONE OF THE MOST FAMOUS EXPLORERS ON THE CONTINENT, IT'S LUCARIO!"
He did a flip through the air and landed in the arena. After landing, he used Iron Tail to generate a blast of wind, extinguishing enough flames for him to stand. "LET'S FUCKING GET IT!"
Lucario's yell managed to get the crowd more excited than with Hydreigon. Blizz would be lying if he said he wasn't a part of that.
"AND THOSE ARE THE GUILDMASTERS! ROUND ONE IS THE COMBAT TOURNAMENT, TEAMS OF TWO FACE OFF AGAINST EACH OTHER COMPETING FOR THE TOP SPOT! STARTING IN 30 MINUTES, SO STAY IN YOUR SEATS FOLKS!"
The four guildmasters and Loudred left the arena through the hole in the fence Golisopod created. Soon after, a team of Timburr and a Squrtle came by to replace the current arena with a more intact, less on-fire one.
"So what teams are we thinking for this?" Kibo asked his teammates.
"We're definitely not putting Rune and the Prince on the same team…" Blizz considered.
"Absolutely not," Rune agreed.
"Then how about the Prince is with me, Kibo's with Rune?" Blizz proposed.
"I suppose I can tolerate a team with Blizz."
"That's fine…" Rune agreed.
"Sounds good to me!" Kibo confirmed. He got closer to Rune to discuss their strategy. "Let me take the hits, then you hit them…"
The Prince turned to Blizz. "I don't suppose you have a strategy in mind?"
"Pretty much the same idea as when we fought Beartic. Keep moving, keep distance, don't get hit."
"A valid strategy."
"Hey, you fuckers got your teams lined up?" Lucario called to them.
"Yea, me and Umbreon, and Vulpix and Jangmo-o," Blizz answered.
"Hell yea!" Lucario ran off to give their guild's lineups to Loudred.
"AND A BEAUTIFUL KNOCKOUT FROM Hawlucha AND TYROGUE! IS THERE ANYTHING THAT CAN STOP THEM?"
Some Machoke carried the unconscious Vaporeon and Trumbeak out of the arena.
"NOW, OUR NEXT MATCHUP IS TREECKO AND UMBREON FROM LUCARIO'S GUILD VERSUS METANG AND THWACKEY FROM BEHEEYEM'S!"
"Let us show these commoners the superiority of humanity," the Prince snarked as they approached the arena.
"Wait, did you actually try to hype yourself up?" Blizz noticed.
"As if I would need to employ such crass tactics to enter the proper headspace for a competition."
"You did!"
"…If you speak of anyone to this I will forfeit the match."
"Fine."
They jumped over the arena wall, as Metang floated in with Thwackey on top of him.
"ALRIGHT, I WANNA SEE A CLEAN FIGHT. FIRST SIDE WITH BOTH POKEMON KNOCKED OUT LOSES. BEGIN!"
Blizz and the Prince wasted no time, both launching a Quick Attack at Thwackey.
As a species, Thwackey have a tendency to address immediate threats with the strategy of "hit with stick." Unfortunately for Thwackey, there were two Pokemon coming towards him but he only had one stick. To remedy this conundrum, he settled on only hitting the first Pokemon coming towards him, which happened to be the Treecko.
"AND TREECKO IS HIT WHILE UMBREON MAKES IT THROUGH THE SCREEN!"
While Blizz was adequately bonked, the Prince was not, finishing the Quick Attack and knocking Thwackey off of his Metang mount.
For his own part, Metang tried to help out by using Metal Claw, but the Prince was able to jump back before the attack could come close to connecting.
"OOH, THAT UMBREON IS SLICK!"
With his attack intercepted, Blizz was a bit closer to his two opponents than he would've liked. He decided to hold the distance though, given that the Prince was charging up a Shadow Ball behind them.
Thwackey tried to attack Blizz with a Double Hit, but he evaded both strikes.
"AND THWACKEY COMPLETELY MISSES THE DOUBLE HIT, WHAT'S TREECKO GONNA DO NOW?"
Using the opening, Blizz jumped up to hit Thwackey with a Pound. Normally, he would be much more concerned about the fact that Metang was rushing towards him with a Bullet Punch, however a Shadow Ball from the Prince disrupted that attack before it could be a problem.
"THERE'S SOME BEAUTIFUL TEAMWORK FROM TEAM APEX!"
The Pound launched Thwackey into the arena wall, where he was in a very good position for Blizz to use Leafage, knocking him out.
Before Blizz even had the chance to shift his focus to Metang, the Prince used Bite, knocking out their second opponent.
"IT'S A DOUBLE K-O, TEAM APEX WINS THE ROUND!"
"Hell yea!" Blizz shouted. He held up his hand for the Prince to high five, which made it kinda awkward when the Prince decided to ignore it and walk out of the arena.
"OOH, ICE COLD…"
Blizz followed the Prince out, as the medical staff came by to take away their opponents. They went back up to their guild's bleachers, where they talked to the other half of their team.
"You guys looked great!" Kibo complimented. "Kinda makes me feel bad after how we did…"
"I wouldn't care about such things," the Prince explained. "We simply are a cut above all these animals, their metrics of aggression can do nothing to change this relationship."
Rune leaned in to whisper to Blizz. "Should we be encouraging him for supporting a friend or get mad at him for being a dick to everyone else?"
"I'm uh… not sure. Let's wait and see where it goes."
"…Okay."
They watched some of the other battles of round one. Team Arctic managed to make it onto the next round despite Dewott trying to attack Sneasel halfway through, Drill got knocked out after Rockruff got mad at Gible for breaking their formation, and Spark barely managed to overpower their opponents, but the injuries they took from that fight made them withdraw.
Meanwhile, the Zorua and Flareon they met earlier managed to make it onto the next round, while their Tailow and Bagon got knocked out.
It was only somewhat surprising then that Blizz and the Prince's next opponents were Zorua and Flareon.
"AND NEXT UP, THE TWO BIGGEST UP AND COMER TEAMS IN VARIN SQUARING OFF, TEAM APEX VS TEAM TERRAE!"
The two sides entered the arena and stared down the other.
"Good luck," Blizz offered.
"Right… uh, same," Zorua responded.
"I hope this encounter does nothing to change the nature of our relationship," Flareon said.
"I would take it as an insult if you were not to make this a challenge," the Prince agreed.
"COMPETITORS, GET READY… GO!"
Blizz focused on Flareon, given his weakness to fire types. He led the same way he did last time, which constituted a Quick Attack as soon as the round started.
Flareon tried to jump out of the way, but wasn't quite fast enough, getting clipped by Blizz's attack. Unfortunately for Blizz, it turned out that it was in fact not Flareon, but a cleverly disguised Zorua.
"Sorry about this…"
The second Zorua, which Blizz assumed to actually be Flareon, used Ember at basically point blank. Blizz had no chance of dodging, and was hit by the super-effective attack.
"Gah…"
"A CLEVER USE OF ILLUSION LEADS TO TREECKO TAKING SUPER-EFFECTIVE DAMAGE RIGHT OFF THE BAT! LET'S SEE HOW THIS EFFECTS APEX'S STRATEGY!"
While the two Pokemon crowding over Blizz meant he was not in an ideal position, they effectively left the Prince unchecked. This would proceed to bite them in the ass in the form of a Shadow Ball scoring a direct hit against Flareon.
Taking the distraction, Blizz jumped up and used Pound on Zorua, but a searing pain caused him to flinch in mid air. As a result, the hit did a lot less than he would have liked.
"LOOKS LIKE THAT EMBER MANAGED TO LEAVE A BURN! ALL OF TREECKO'S PHYSICAL ATTACKS ARE GONNA DO HALF DAMAGE NOW!"
Zorua recovered from the weakened hit and lashed out at Blizz with Fury Swipes. In no position to dodge it, Blizz had to take the hit.
The Prince didn't seem to get off free either. Flareon managed to fire an Ember in retaliation for the Shadow Ball earlier, though it didn't appear to cause a burn this time.
After the third consecutive swipe from Zorua, Blizz decided that he really didn't like this situation.
"Can you top that now?"
He reached out for Zorua as a new type of energy coursed through his body. It was definitely an attack, but it felt weirdly relaxing as he used it.
"AND TREECKO USES ABSORB! THAT'S THE FIRST TIME HE'S BROUGHT IT OUT IN THE TOURNAMENT! DID HE JUST LEARN IT?"
While it did return some energy to Blizz, Absorb isn't exactly a powerful move. Zorua was mostly unfazed by the attack, and launched into another Fury Swipes.
"Come on, don't you know another move?"
"…Not really…"
Meanwhile, the Prince and Flareon's battle seemed to be slightly more graceful. The two weaved around every attack the other sent their way, jumping just out of distance whenever they would get close. It looked like they were dancing compared to the slugfest Blizz and Zorua were locked in.
"You make for a fine partner," Flareon complimented, ducking underneath another Shadow Ball. "I find few are capable of matching me with such elegance."
"I could say the same about yourself," the Prince replied, jumping over an Ember.
"I do regret to inform you though that this is not a solo dance."
"How do you-" the Prince was cut off by Zorua using Scratch on him. At the same time, Blizz realized the Zorua he had just tried to use Leafage on was an illusion that faded into nothing.
With the Prince hurting from the Scratch, he was in an excellent position for Flareon to hit him with a Quick Attack.
Blizz tried to save his teammate with a Quick Attack of his own, but the burn proved to be crippling, and what was supposed to be ramming into Flareon became more of a gentle nudge.
At this point he was pretty confident Zorua was out to spite him, as she used Fury Swipes yet again. The failed Quick Attack meant he was in no position to dodge, and the attack managed to wipe out the last of his energy.
The last thing Blizz could make out was Loudred shouting something about "Treecko down" before he blacked out.
When Blizz woke up, he was in the medical cabin next to the Prince.
"Damn… we kinda sucked there…"
"Obviously your fault," the Prince responded. "Had you not been useless for the duration of that battle we may have come out victorious."
"Yea, that burn fucked me up. Should probably figure out some more special moves sometime…"
Not really expecting Blizz to actually agree with his assessment, the Prince didn't know how to respond. He settled with his mental default option when talking to others.
"Hmph."
After a couple minutes, a Chansey came by and gave them a quick check up.
"The two of you appear to be alright. That was a good fight, by the way. The team you were fighting was in pretty bad shape too, they just used an illusion to cover it up."
"Really? Damnit, should've just stuck with Leafages then…"
"In any case, the battles are still going on. If you wouldn't mind clearing out before the current battle ends?"
"Oh, uh, right." Blizz jumped off the bed he was in, the Prince following soon after. Once they were sure they didn't have any lingering injuries, they exited the cabin.
"To think they used such underhanded tactics…"
"Hey, I'm pretty sure that's supposed to be, like, Zorua's thing. Plus she only knew two moves, and they're pretty much the same. We can cut her some slack."
"Fine, but I only grant such leniency because of Flareon's sportsmanship. He is a worthy adversary for myself, very few can claim such a thing."
"I'm sure there are countless Pokemon devastated by that level of exclusivity."
The two made their way back to their guild's bleachers, idly watching a round between Golisopod's and Beheeyem's guild.
"Nice work y'all," Kibo complimented. "You almost had them."
"Yea, Chansey told us," Blizz responded. "That Zorua knows what she's doing."
"… It's a cool ability…" Rune whispered.
"Yea, all I can do is just stick to walls… Hey Prince, you got any cool skills? Aside from being a glow stick?"
"As if I need any such ability to validate my worth."
Rune pondered that response. "I mean, that's a good answer…"
"I think the issue here is that his idea of his worth is already too high," Blizz suggested. "Anyone else, that's the right idea."
The fight came to an end as Golisopod's fighters managed to overpower Beheeyem's.
"THERE WE HAVE IT, MAREANIE AND DEWPIDER ARE MOVING ONTO THE NEXT ROUND! NOW, THIS ROUND'S LOOKING INTERESTING. ON THE LEFT, IT'S THE REIGNING CHAMPS, TEAM BLITZ!"
Hawlucha and Tyrogue jumped the fence.
"AND OPPOSING THEM, HYDREIGON'S UP AND COMERS, TEAM TERRAE!"
Zorua and Flareon entered the other side of the ring.
"Do you think they're doing the illusion trick again?" Rune asked
"It would not be advisable to do that so soon after the previous time," the Prince stated. "I doubt it."
Blizz examined the team. "Nah, they are."
"AND BATTLE, BEGIN!"
Blizz kinda felt bad for Terrae. When they fought, it was mostly even with Zorua's Illusion giving them the advantage over himself and the Prince. But here, this was just a slaughter.
Tyrogue led with a Mach Punch against Flareon, who after getting hit turned out to actually be Zorua in disguise.
"Told ya," Blizz teased.
"It was doubtless a lucky guess."
"AND TYROGUE PREDICTS THE ILLUSION!"
Zorua didn't see the attack coming at all, and had to take the super effective hit head-on. This was exacerbated by a Flying Press from Hawlucha, who hit way harder than Tyrogue, and sent Zorua reeling.
"IT LOOKS LIKE THEY'RE FOCUSING ON ZORUA! HOW WILL FLAREON REACT?"
Flareon tried to ease the pressure on his teammate with Ember, but Tyrogue just shrugged it off, not diverting her focus from taking down Zorua.
Meanwhile, Zorua was getting battered around far too much to be able to counter attack. It didn't take long for her to fall unconscious.
"AND ZORUA'S OUT! CAN FLAREON PULL OFF A ONE ON TWO?"
Flareon could not, in fact, pull off a one on two. While he didn't have to deal with the repeated super-effective hits Zorua did, the fact remained that Hawlucha and Tyrogue are just really good at beating Pokemon up.
He fell soon enough.
"AND THAT'S IT FOR TEAM TERRAE! BETTER LUCK NEXT YEAR. NOW, NEXT ROUND IS GOLISOPOD'S TEAM RIPTIDE VS LUCARIO'S TEAM ARCTIC!"
Blizz kinda stopped caring about the battles after that point. He cheered on Team Arctic, who did manage to make it on, but by this point it was obvious Team Blitz was gonna win.
The final match was between Blitz and Hydregion's Pidgeotto and Zangoose. Blitz won easily, with Hawlucha being surprisingly good at remaining in the air, taking Pidgeotto off-guard.
"THERE IT IS FOLKS! LUCARIO'S GUILD WINS THE BATTLE TOURNAMENT! I KNOW, NONE OF YOU EXPECTED THAT!"
"Hell yea we fucking did!" Lucario yelled.
"AND THAT ENDS THE FIRST DAY, WITH LUCARIO'S GUILD HAVING ONE ROUND TO THEIR NAME. WE'LL SEE WHAT HAPPENS TOMORROW AT THE DUNGEON SWEEP!"
The arena emptied out as the various spectators and guild members returned to their camps.
"I can't believe you didn't put me on the team," Combusken complained, behind the rest of Team Blitz.
"You have no capacity to restrain yourself. Tyrogue's level headedness was a more important asset than the slight power increase you represent," Hawlucha explained.
Tyrogue nodded beside him.
"Hmph…"
Blizz, Kibo, and Rune instinctively turned to the Prince, before realizing he was not the source of this particular "hmph."
"Am I truly that bad?" The Prince asked, annoyed.
"… Yea, kinda. I think you're getting better?" Rune offered.
"Hmp-… So be it."
As they were settling around camp, Blizz noticed some familiar faces outside of Hydreigon's area.
"Yo Prince, I'm gonna go talk to Terrae. Wanna come?"
"Fine, I could stand to confer with the one animal that does not cause me to lose my mind."
"Rad."
The duo approached Terrae, who were chatting among themselves.
"Hey, nice battling today," Blizz complimented. "Blitz is tough as hell, tanking a Flying Press from him like you did isn't easy."
The greeting managed to catch Zorua off guard. "Huh- oh, Treecko… yea, thank you. It… well it could have gone better, but it wasn't a bad fight. Shows us what we need to work on."
"I mean those guys were awesome!" Bagon yelled. "Did you see them? They completely fucked up Pidgeotto and Zangoose!"
Flareon looked contemplative. "They were formidable. I question the merit of allowing a team with as many wins in this competition to compete, however."
"Seconded," the Prince agreed. "Though I believe it's worth pointing out that the victor is only one part of the broader competition, and many different teams were given the chance to demonstrate their skills within the bracket format."
"I suppose, you make a compelling point."
"Naturally."
Blizz looked on as the Prince and Flareon's conversation broke off from the rest of the group.
He couldn't say he minded. "So what's with that illusion thing you can do?" He asked Zorua. "It seems pretty badass."
Zorua seemed to be a bit embarrassed by the praise. "Well, I'm not sure exactly how it works. My leading theory is that it allows me to refract light in an area around me, but to do anything useful with it I need to base it off something. Like… well, could you get closer?"
Blizz obliged, stepping in front of Zorua. She closed her eyes in concentration, before vanishing into a puff of smoke. When it faded, Blizz was looking at an identical Treecko.
"Damn, even got my bag and everything."
"Yea, it's only an illusion though. If you touch it, it all breaks." It was a little jarring for Blizz to hear Zorua's voice coming out of a copy of him, but he got over it quickly.
To test her point, Blizz reached out towards his counterpart's head, which he was pretty sure was above where Zorua would be able to stand.
True to her explanation, his hand passed straight through. The illusion faded the second he made contact, reverting back into a Zorua.
"So that's my ability, I guess."
"Honestly that's probably one of the coolest things I've seen since coming out here," Blizz admitted.
Zorua initially focused on dealing with the mental toll of being complimented and not knowing how to receive it, before realizing what Blizz said. "Since coming out here? You mean to the games?"
"Oh-err, yea." He decided against sharing that he actually meant "since coming to Varin."
Zorua pondered Blizz, before accepting his explanation.
"It's just a species thing though. Supposedly once I evolve I'll be able to create illusions that are solid, but I don't think I'll be doing that for a while."
"…Evolve?"
Zorua gave Blizz a blank stare. "… Have you never heard of evolution before?"
"Uhh, no…?"
"Well uh, I feel like this is probably something you should ask your guildmaster about, but basically once you become strong enough, you can change your form. Have you really never seen this before?"
"First I've heard of it."
"Well, I can evolve into Zoroark, while you can evolve into Grovyle, then Sceptile. But that doesn't matter anyways, since no Pokemon's been able to evolve for the past few weeks."
"Damn… that would be kinda cool…"
Zorua was still a bit confused about how Blizz has never heard of evolving before, but didn't get a chance to question it further.
"ALL YOU FUCKERS BETTER LINE UP!" Hydreigon shouted.
"Sorry, I think we have to go," Zorua apologized. "Our battle today was fun though."
"Hell yea it was." He held out his hand for a high-five, which she awkwardly accepted. "Fuck them up tomorrow."
With no reason to remain there and receiving some uncomfortable stares from the rest of Hydreigon's guild, Blizz and the Prince returned to their camp. After a quick dinner and some gossip about what the hell a "dungeon sweep" means, they fell asleep.
A/N: First day goes to Hawlucha (who it was recently pointed out to me that I've been spelling his name wrong the entire time). Remaining competitions aren't going to have as much focus, so next chapter will be the last of the tournament arc.
Ch 8: Déjà Vu - 1/15/22