PWT Arc: The Tournament's Start
The days flew by and consisted of training, training and... you guessed it: More training. On the last night before the tournament began, Jacky practiced with Noivern and let it sweep waves of heat across the ground. "Hey, could you maybe try not to torch the grass?" Mari asked next to her, who was practicing with Gabite.
"Oops..." Jacky laughed awkwardly. "The poor grass... Tell me, how many are participating in the tournament again?",
"Sixteen", Mari replied. "I'll save myself the trouble of calculating and thinking about how many rounds there will be.",
"Actually, it's not that hard to-",
"I'm setting myself the goal of at least making it to the quarterfinals. We might have to battle each other at some point, too.",
"Or one of us will be thrown out early.",
"It depends on the opponents." Mari smiled. "Maybe, you'll see your silver-haired friend again and finally find out who he is!",
"You're still picking on that?",
"Absolutely, because it's fun!"
Jacky just rolled her eyes in exasperation as they were suddenly approached by the woman who was standing at the front desk at the stadium the other day. "Good evening. You are also participants of the tournament, aren't you? I have been looking for you." The two nodded. "Yes, we are. Why?",
"I would like you to follow me so that I can take you to your accommodation for the next few days, in case you want to stay close to the PWT.",
"Accommodation?" Mari asked.
"There are rooms for the participants in the building next to the stadium.",
"That's great!",
"They are a luxury, of course. You don't have to pay for them, but you may also stay at the Pokémon Center's accomodations if you so wish. It's simply an offer from the hosts.",
"We would like to stay in close proximity", Jacky replied. "So we gladly take you up on the offer."
They followed the woman to the stadium. "Where do the participants remain during the battles?" Mari asked, out of interest. "Is there some sort of green room or...?",
"We in Unova follow a certain system for all tournaments. Thus, it is customary for participating fighters to have their own stands.",
"That's lovely. It means we can watch the others.",
"Of course. Seeing them live inside the stadium is always a nicer experience than having to follow everything from a screen, no?",
"That's true. And... what happens if there's a draw between two participants?" the black-haired girl continued to ask.
"In that case, the two trainers will have to battle again at a later time to determine a winner. Like a second round. Cases such as these do not happen often, though. Especially among rookie trainers. In the history of the junior cup tournament that's been around for 5 years now, it only happened once."
The woman led them into the large PWT building and led them down a hallway to the right. "Do you wish to stay in single rooms or in a double room?",
"We prefer a double, if that's possible", Jacky replied. The woman smiled. "Of course." She stopped in front of a door and turned to them, handing them a key. "Here. You'll find the cafeteria down the hall to the left. Always lock up when you leave the room. We are not accountable for anything stolen.",
"We will. Thank you."
The woman nodded politely and then walked away. Jacky unlocked the door.
The room was a fairly comfortably furnished with a window, a table and chairs. It was large enough. "Hmmh... Not bad." Mari sat down on one of the beds. "I like this room.",
"Me too." Jacky nodded. "So... what time does the tournament begin tomorrow?",
"At noon. 12 a.m. Don't worry, I'll set an alarm so we have enough time to prepare.",
"Alright."
Mari set an alarm on her Xtranceiver and sat down onto one bed. It was soft. Fantastico.
"We need to return the key of our room in the Pokémon Center. I left some of my stuff over there.", Jacky remembered.
"Oh. Right, right... I'll do that real quick.",
"Okay. Do you need help?",
"Nah, it's okay. I'll manage." Mari grabbed the key and hurried over to the Pokémon Center to return it and fetch the stuff they left there. Jacky decided to go to sleep early.
"BEEP. BEEP. BEEP. BEEP. BEEP!"
"Huh...?" Jacky's eyes snapped open.
"BEEEEEEEEEEEEP!",
"It's okay, I'm awake!" Hastily, Jacky jumped out of bed and ran to Mari. Her Xtranceiver was angrily yelling at her with the most annoying alarm ringtone she had ever heard. "Heavenly times! Shut the hell up!" she snarled at the device and turned it off. Offended, it pouted quietly to itself. She couldn't believe Mari hadn't even heard that headache-inducing, annoying, super beastly beeping. "Hey, Roggenrola! Get up!" Jacky boxed her friend's shoulder impatiently. "Ouch..." Mari sat up sleepily. "Violent early in the morning already...?",
"I could have pulled you out of bed after that torture you've made my poor ears go through!" Jacky grumbled. "Now get up!" She disappeared into the bathroom and Mari looked after her. "...Okay, okay... got it..."
They got ready and then moved to the cafeteria. Some young trainers were sitting at the tables talking, others were just rigidly silent. Jacky looked at them closely. The silver-haired one was not among them. It was kind of expected. The guy hadn't shown his face anywhere since the Pokémon freak-out. Jacky and Mari sat down at a corner table and had breakfast before they went to explore the building. They passed a store that sold equipment. Among them were belts with Pokéball holders. Jacky stopped. "Hmmh... Hey, Mari! We could use some of those, couldn't we?" She pointed at the belts.
"Oh... Yes. Then, we wouldn't have to keep digging in our bags for the Poké Balls." Jacky approached the guy behind the counter and the two of them each bought a belt to attach their Poké Balls to. Once they had that done, they roamed around the building some more before a bell sounded. "What was that?" Mari asked.
"Some kind of signal, I'm sure... Come on, we should go to the grand stand. What time is it?",
"Half past eleven.",
"Well, about time." The two ran off and were intercepted halfway by a man who escorted them to the grandstand. The other participants gradually found themselves there. When Mari recognized a certain person, she nudged Jacky. "There!",
"Huh?" The latter looked up and recognized the silver-haired boy who sat down two rows below. "That's him!" Mari murmured, and Jacky nodded. "Yeah..." The spectator stands were bulging. Curious looks clung to the participants. Many waved. A boy with dark blond hair waved back and the brown-haired guy with some white-dyed strands next to him leaned over. "You're already basking in the attention you're getting, Gwin.",
"I just don't see this kind of thing every day, Chris. Okay?"
The brown-haired boy laughed. "Yeah, yeah. Got it. Oh..." He turned his attention to the silver-haired boy. They seemed to know each other. "Wow, I haven't seen ya in ages! How're you doing?",
"Fine", he replied with a humble smile. "I had a feeling I would meet you here.",
"Hah... Well, you know me. This opportunity is a one-time thing, after all. But our lady ain't here, I see... Aw, that's a bummer. It would've been a reunion.",
"Yes... She didn't make it in time, unfortunately..."
A loudspeaker announcement made the stadium go silent. "Ladies and gentlemen! It is my pleasure to welcome you to the Pokémon World Tournament today on this wonderful day to watch the Junior Cup Tournament with you!" Applause and cheers rang out. "Today, we're in for eight exciting qualifying battles that will make this arena shake! Take a look at our big scoreboard!" A screen flashed up, showing pictures of all 16 competitors. Below them were their names. "Mari, there we are!" Jacky pointed to her pictures.
"Cool. So that's what the photographs they made earlier were for."
Then Jacky's gaze lingered on the picture of the silver-haired boy. Laslow Steward. So that was his name...
"The pairs will be decided at random! Only one Pokémon shall be used in these first battles at a time! The Trainer whose Pokémon cannot continue fighting at the end will be withdrawn from the tournament!" Tense gazes turned to the scoreboard as the images began to rotate and then clearly came to a stop in pairs of two next to each other.