PWT Arc: The Challenge Begins

After the last battle of this round had come to a conclusion, everyone streamed out of the stadium and Mari took her Pokémon to the internal infirmary before she and Jacky settled into their room. "There's a show about the tournament on TV today," Mari recalled. "Really?",
"Yepp.",
"We really need to watch that!",
"No objection."
Jacky excitedly turned on the TV. The commercials ran before the program started. "Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. Welcome to Unova TV!" a woman said with a cheerful voice. "As I'm sure some of you know, the Junior Cup Tournament is currently taking place at the PWT in Driftveil City, and this is what we'd like to highlight, now that the finals are coming up! But before we go into details, welcome with me our guest. Mr. Campbell, whose company is one of the biggest sponsors of the PWT!" The camera zoomed out to show the stockily built man with blonde hair sitting in a chair next to the woman. "My mother watches this program, too," Jacky remarked.
"Mr. Campbell," the anchorwoman continued, "...what do you think of the finalists?", "Well..." Mari's image appeared behind him on the screen. "...On the one hand, we have Mari Sentaku. She comes from Aspertia City, if I'm not mistaken, and started her journey this year in spring. March, if I'm not too far off. She may still be a newcomer, but her recent battles have shown her daring and fighting spirit. Here, for example-" Behind him, a clip of her fight with Soleil could be seen. "Soleil McNary was the clear favorite in this battle and has impressed before with her elegant and eloquent manner, yet she lost to her opponent in the end. I hope Mari will not lose her inspiring fire and will approach the matter with the same determination.",
"Her opponent in the finals, Christopher Edwards, is considered the favorite of the entire tournament. He has proven that he definitely lives up to that assessment, having retained first place on the rankings. Do you think Mari could match up against him?",
"She'll have her problems," the sponsor replied, folding his arms. "Chris is a peculiar contestant. He seems to be far more advanced than most others on his level." Mari's image was replaced by Chris's. "He has impressed before with his tenacity and easy-going manner. He, with his partner, Tyranitar, is an unshakable wall that Mari will most likely cut her teeth on. As you can see here." A fight scene of Chris' Tyranitar against Xenia's Vullaby faded in. "Vullaby didn't stand a chance against its rock-hard armor. Just like other trainers who've gone up against him and failed." In the video clip, Tyranitar took a roaring lunge with Ice Punch and brutally hurled the bird against the wall with a powerful smash.
"That's true, however, we would be doing Mari an injustice if we underestimated her," the presenter said. "As she already proved in the battle against Soleil, she can definitely surprise us. And now, let's see it all from the front, and from the qualifiers!" The screen was split and several sequences from different fights of the qualifying round were shown. "Who was your favorite, Mr. Campbell?",
"My favorite in this tournament was Laslow Steward." He pointed to one of the sequences that got bigger and showed Laslow's slick performance against Gwin in the qualifiers. "He may seem to be nothing more but an eyecatcher for the ladies, but the way he fights is very unique and special. He seemed to stall for time before putting his opponents through the wringer. Until his elimination from the tournament, he was never in a dangerous situation and clearly stood out because of what he delivered. Even in the fight he lost, he showed his superior, technical skills that made it difficult even for someone like Chris to win at all. He always had an eye on his opponents' movements and was always in control of them. He also seemed to have a lot of cunning behind those attentive eyes that he put to his advantage, making him able to put Chris into a tough spot. No one has managed to challenge Chris as much before as he did. I was also impressed by the performances of Vivian and Jacky.",
"Laslow also impressed me," the presenter said with a smile. "He clearly stood out among the masses, not only with his looks but also with his skill.",
"Is everyone raving about him?" Mari asked. Jacky glanced at her. "Uh... seems... so...?",
"You'll have formidable competition when it comes to him." Her friend grumbled and screwed up her face. "You'll never leave me alone with this, do you?",
"Never."

"Let's talk about Jacky Heavens," the presenter began. "Fate let her down when she had to face Chris in the arena. But you have to hand it to her: She was able to deal visible damage to his Tyranitar. All other opponents failed to do so. Even Laslow has refrained from attempting physical harm, resorting to the usage of Toxin to slowly bring the beast down. She, however, has managed to deal physical damage to it. That alone marks her with a unique selling point. Moreover, she seems to have a lot of inventiveness, for which she should be respected. At least, that's my opinion.",
"Without question." Mr. Campbell tapped on the screen and enlarged the sequence in which Absol had turned the tides on Chris' Inteleon. "This phase of the battle alone shows quite clearly that she definitely has a lot of brains when she managed to turn the tables like this. And now let's take a closer look at this..." Another sequence appeared. It showed Jacky's fight against Dave. "Do you notice anything, Mrs. Riley?",
"Jacky's Noivern emerged victorious in that battle despite a double type disadvantage." the presenter replied.
"Right." The sponsor nodded. "Having a dragon/flying-type Pokémon fight an ice-type Pokémon is usually as insane as it is pointless. Yet, it won and defied the distinct disadvantage. That seems to be her motto. To win, no matter the type or the chance. It's reckless, yet it shows how much she trusts her Pokémon." Jacky became embarrassed as Mari nudged her, giggling.
"You also brought up another contestant, Mr. Campbell. Vivian Adara.",
"Right. Vivian, or Viv in short, is a steely soul with a sense of beauty. Outwardly, she has shown herself to be a steadfast and unyielding trainer who does not value many words. Despite everything, however, she seems to maintain a strong bond with her Pokémon. She fought extremely offensively, and successfully at that, until she was defeated. Nonetheless, a very exceptional trainer." The two talked for a while about which of the contestants had surprised them the most, with the host praising Kattlea to the skies, until they changed the subject.

"Which Pokémon did you like the most, Mr. Campbell? Personally, I'm a fan of Jacky's Noivern and Laslow's Gothorita.",
"Both Pokémon are exceptional and very strong. However, I liked Mari's Gardevoir and her Skarmory the most. However, I wonder one thing..." Jacky's battle against Chris faded in. "Take a closer look. Right there." The sequence stopped at the point where Absol recoiled, struck by a powerful attack, and Jacky squinted painfully. "Do you see that? Absol suffered pain from a violent attack, however, here it appears its trainer feels that pain, too." Mari's gaze jerked to Jacky again. "I noticed that during the battle against Laslow, too. Is that right?",
"I didn't notice that at all..." Jacky answered honestly.
"How can you not notice that?",
"Maybe, I just didn't pay attention... But I can remember. When Houndoom grabbed Absol's blade, I briefly felt a pain... Like a flash, so fast and violent, but just as fast, it was gone again. I thought maybe I had just imagined it."

The show came to a close. "But let's be honest... if that's really true, then that's not a good thing. This is bad."
Jacky lowered her eyes. "Mm... Yeah, maybe you're right. I don't even really know where this is coming from...",
"Hm... I'm sure we'll figure it out." Mari flopped backwards on the bed. "Maybe, it's some kind of emotional attachment. Anyway... tomorrow is the day I either get my ass kicked by Chris, or, by some miracle, I manage to defeat him. I think the first one is more likely. But I'll fight along for you, I promise.",
"No matter how the fight turns out tomorrow, to me, you're the strongest person I know.",
"Aww..." Mari sat up again. "And you, my dear, are the bravest person in the world." She hugged her friend. Jacky returned it tightly and had to hold back small tears. "And you're the best friend I could ask for.",
"I hope I don't disappoint you." Mari laughed and let her go. "I'm going to lie down. Okay?",
"All right." Jacky nodded. Mari curled up and fell asleep a little later.

"My goodness... Everyone's raving about you these days, aren't they?" The girl with the caramel brown hair winked in Laslow's direction. "I was watching the talk show on TV. They were talking about you without stopping.",
"Eh... I can't say I liked it, exactly..." Laslow muttered softly. He stood by her, in the light of a streetlamp. "I feel way too much like people are projecting things onto me that fit their own ideals... Like it's more of a stereotype than a form of praise. They are picturing me as a multi-talented, perfect role model, like I'm some sort of hero from a knight's tale. I don't know if I like that. To me, it feels like they idolize me and turn me into a shell to admire. I am afraid that, sooner or later, I will have to disappoint someone because I cannot live up to those expectations... This is not who I am, I'm NOT perfect...",
"Wow. That got dark really quickly." The girl crossed her arms. "Let them phantasize, man. It's not like it's any of your business. You're always you to me.",
"Thanks, Kuraiko. Really, I appreciate it. I probably make it out to be more of a problem than it actually is... Still, it irks me...",
"You shouldn't think about it too much in my humble opinion. Anyway, I saw your battle with Chris today. I must say, I haven't been disappointed.",
"That's good to know... Is your mother feeling better?",
"Slowly, but steadily. I can finally continue to travel... I have a lot to do to catch up.",
"Yeah... I'm just happy everything's starting to look better for you.",
"Me too... This whole thing was sucky to no end. I've got a question for you, though." She crossed her arms. "I've noticed this girl around you a lot, even for the short time I'm here. She a friend of yours?",
"A travel companion, yes", he replied. "I've met her in Virbank and I'm currently helping her to improve her own skills. She isn't very confident, you know. She asked to accompany me for a bit so she could learn more, and I agreed. She seems nice, but she gets a little too flirty with me sometimes. It's really annoying.",
"Have you stated your boundaries clearly enough?",
"Yeah. But I don't let it bother me too much. It annoys me, yes, but I just ignore it. Other than that, we get along fine. It is nice to have company every once in a while... Travelling on your own tends to get pretty lonely at times.",
"What's her name?",
"Aria.",
"She hopefully won't replace me as your best friend, will she?",
"Uh... No. No chance in hell that's gonna happen. You're irreplacable to me, Kurai.",
"Hah, I knew it." She smirked and patted his shoulder. Forcefully. He put a smile on his face to pretend the pain that her friendly gesture caused him away. She really had no restraint in point of power. "Sad you lost before the finals, buuut we both can say it's no shame losing to Chrissy.",
"Oh, you better don't call him that when he's in earshot. He'd flip out.",
"Well, he's not gonna try to murder me. Most likely. ...Hopefully."

The next morning, Jacky was still asleep with her nose buried in the pillow when Mari leaned over her. "Hey. Wake up, snookums.",
"Huh?" she slowly opened her eyes.
"The battle takes place in an hour. You should get up.",
"Right you are... I'm surprised you didn't yell me out of bed.",
"I'll be gracious today.",
"To what do I owe this honor?",
"An exception." Mari winked down at her before disappearing.

They walked over to the cafeteria, where they were eating a hearty breakfast when Chris entered. His gaze lingered on the two of them. "Good morning.",
"Hello," Mari greeted him. Chris' nut-brown hair was a bit disheveled. "Mind if I join you?", "Sure," Jacky agreed. Chris smiled and sat down at the table with them. He bit into a croissant and eyed them both. "Are you excited?", he then asked, addressing Mari.
"...A little..." she replied. Chris tilted his head slightly to the side. "I'm pretty sure you have surprises in store", he stated. "Soleil was a strong opponent, but you beat her. All I'm saying is that I respect you. A lot of people underestimate you, which, if I may be so open, is absolutely stupid. Underestimating someone is always a good reason why you get your butt handed to you in the end. We've seen great examples of that already." He leaned back. "Jacky is definitely strong, so it is certainly not wrong of me to expect similar good performances from you." He glanced briefly at Jacky. "You've impressed me. I think there's a lot more to be expected from you two than what's been seen from you so far.",
"Thank you, Chris..." Jacky smiled.
"I've heard of your battle with Laslow. Beat him, huh?",
"Yeah. ...narrowly.",
"Narrowly or not, a victory is a victory. I can say beating him ain't an easy task. So... congrats."

They talked with the brown-haired boy for a while. He seemed very nice and open for chatter and not a bit conceited or arrogant like some other guys with monstrously strong Pokémon. Cue Dino. He was actually very pleasant and funny, and he seemed to like chatting away with his rivals. Half an hour later, he said goodbye to them. "We should be getting to the stadium as well," Mari said. Jacky nodded. "Right. Let's go."

In the stands, only Mari and Chris were still sitting. They sat next to each other and Mari was extremely nervous. Chris seemed calm and collected as always and gave her a look. "Stay calm.",
"That's easier said than done." she replied.
"I know. I'm one to talk, huh... Haha, sorry about that.",
"Ladies and gentlemen!" the host greeted the audience, among whom Jacky had mingled. "Welcome to the grand finale of this stunning tournament so far here at the Pokémon World Tournament in Driftveil City! Witness the following battle between Mari Sentaku and Chris Edwards! Get ready for an exciting duel!"
The images of the two finalists flashed on the display and loud cheers resounded through the arena. "Both contestants are fighting with four Pokémon! Once all of one trainer's Pokémon are defeated, the other will emerge as the winner of this competition!" Chris stood up. "Have faith," he said before heading downstairs. Mari looked after him and took a deep breath. "Wish me success," she muttered, then walked to the other side. They both entered the arena at the same time, and Mari had to suppress her nervous trembling. "Okay... don't panic...",
"I'm going to test you now", Chris said, pulling out a Poké Ball. "I hope you're ready.",
"Go ahead..." Mari nodded. Chris threw the ball. "Xatu! You go first!",
"Go, Gabite!"