THE TOURNAMENT BEGINS:
Ash checked himself in the mirror, adjusting his tailcoat as Latias watched from the corner of the room. A small Pichu slumbered on a nearby table, and Greninja was sitting on a couch picking the M&Ms out of a bowl of trail mix.
"You look great you know." Latias smiled as she sauntered over to Ash. He sighed as he smoothed his hair.
"It's not happening."
"Come on sweetie, I- Mmph!" She was cut off as Ash slapped his hand over her mouth.
"I am not your 'sweetie', I am not your 'bae', and I most certainly am not your 'husbando'." He huffed as he turned around, scooping up Pichu before turning and walking out with Greninja in tow. Latias stood alone for a few moments.
"...We'll see about that." She pulled an About Face and walked after them.
"Here, zip this up for me." Kiriko, still rattled from the events of the previous day, silently fixed the zipper on the back of Ruby's outfit. The girl promptly turned and gently nudged Kiriko into a chair. "Alright, let's do something about that hair. Don't know why you don't brush it more often, it's all messy. Some people would say I'm being hypocritical cause I don't like doing stuff with my own. But curly hair just breaks so easily, you know?"
"..."
"Don't worry Kiriko. I won't let anyone hurt you." She finished brushing the girl's hair and admired her work. "Good." She brushed off Kiriko's dress, a simple one Ruby knew she would request if she were in the state of mind to be talking, before gently nudging her towards the door. Rico was sitting just outside the room for obvious reasons, though it was fun to see him stutter incoherently when Ruby jokingly teased him about possibly seeing Kiriko undress. She steered the two children towards their location as she adjusted Rico's jacket and whatnot.
"You could put some makeup on it, or-"
"Shut up!" Max recoiled as May snapped at him viciously, the brunette wincing as she pressed the ice pack to the large bruise on her cheek. "Fucking brat. Who the hell does that milk-faced freak think she is?"
"Apparently a friend of those two kids." Brock.
"I have half a mind to report her for assault!"
"Don't." Brock warned. "You were clinging to that girl like a vice. They could very easily turn it back against us, especially with all the witnesses."
"Whatever." May huffed, looking down towards the field as Professor Pine, Glacias' most acclaimed researcher, stepped onto the field, his Vulpix trotting alongside him. He tapped his microphone to get the crowd's attention as well as test if it was on.
"Hello, trainers and guests from all around. Welcome to an event one hundred years in the making." He paused for a short round of cheering and clapping. "Now, while the battling doesn't start until tomorrow, today is the official start of the Legend's Tournament. Now, I don't know about you guys, but I like to start these things off with a bang, so, without further ado, I'd like to introduce you all to the the most powerful trainers in our beloved Region, from the Knights all the way to the High Prince himself!" As he set about introducing the Knights, who began to appear on a large balcony above the battlefield, a young woman with bright pink hair was standing at the top of the crowd, impatiently tapping her foot as a boy ran up to her.
"Hey, I got the pretzels." He panted, offering her the on without salt.
"With cheese?"
"Of course." With a grin, Klara took her pretzel.
"Thank you Victor."
"So, I heard Champion Gloria is here. Didn't you train with her on the Isle of Armor?"
"Oh... You know." She waved it off.
"Do you think we'll get to meet her?"
"Not likely. I haven't seen her in like, a year, and there's so many people here-"
"Hey Klara!" The venomous popstar winced as Gloria popped up a set of VIP seats, waving cheerily. "Over here! It's me, Gloria! We were video chatting just last week remember?"
"...Must have been a pretty short year."
"Do you want me to break up with you?" Victor promptly shut his mouth.
"How does your hair keep sticking up? I put like half a can of hairspray into it." Ruby huffed as she attempted to refix Kiriko's hair. "It's like in those cartoons where they fix someone's hair and it bounces back a few seconds later."
"If it's like that then don't bother trying to fix it." Ash spoke up with a sigh. With that, Pine finally announced the Glacias Royal Family and the group walked out onto the balcony, Kiriko and Rico several feet behind them as they were not legal members of the family.
"And of course, our High Prince and top Pokémon trainer." Pine began. "Ash Ketchum!"
"Wait, what!?" Misty practically shrieked, though it was drowned out by the cheering of the crowd.
"Hey, it's that bitch from yesterday!" May pointed to where Ruby was waving at the crowd. "She's his KID!?"
"And now, to start this Tournament off with an explosive bang..." Pine began. "Our High Prince is going to have an exhibition match with a dear longtime friend of his, the Champion of Unova, Iris Yuki!" As Iris stepped out from one of the gates, Ash proceeded to leap over the edge of the balcony, landing with a roll on the battlefield, to the shock of some spectators and the amusement of others.
"He's such a showoff." The Normal Type Knight Janice joked to the Grass Type Knight Gina, who tittered as they all sat down to watch the show. Roy, the announcer for the Tournament, stepped forward.
"This will be an exhibition match, between two Pokémon, and will only end when either Pokémon is unable to battle, or the timer hits zero. Please send out your Pokémon!" Iris released her Dragonite while Ash released Charizard. The two rival Pokémon stared each other down as the whole stadium watched with bated breath. "Battle... Begin!" With little warning, the two Pokémon blasted across the field, interlocking claws with enough force to generate a small shockwave.
"Use Flamethrower!"
"Use Iron Tail!" Dragonite leaned out of the way of the point blank Flamethrower, spinning around and slamming his glowing tail into Charizard's face, causing the Fire and Flying Type to stumble back.
"Slash, then Mega Punch!" Charizard raked his claws across the Pseudo Legendary's face, then rammed a glowing fist into his gut. The dragon let out a wheezing gasp as the wind was knocked out of him. "Now use Flamethrower!"
"Use Dragon Pulse!" Dragonite managed to sputter out a beam of draconic energy just in time to counter the belt of fire Charizard belched out.
"Take to the air and use Steel Wing!" Charizard leapt into the air, his wings glowing with silvery light.
"Aqua Jet!" Dragonite became enveloped in a veil of water as he took to the air as well, maneuvering underneath Charizard and slamming into the Fire Starter's stomach.
"Mega Punch!" Charizard's glowing fist slammed into Dragonite's head, send the Pseudo Legendary rocketing towards the ground, creating a cloud of dust on impact. Charizard landed as Dragonite pushed himself up, both panting heavily. In that moment, a loud buzzer echoed throughout the stadium, signaling the end of the exhibition match as the crowd erupted into cheers. Ash and Iris recalled their Pokémon as Professor Pine stepped out to address the crowd once more.
"That was fun." Iris laughed as she and Ash left the field. "So what about this party you mentioned earlier?"
"More of a gathering so that the League Members from all Regions can meet and greet... With mountains of food on the side."
"You do recall Misty is still a Gym Leader. As well as Brock's brother and Max and May's father." Ash sighed.
"Unfortunately... But really, what can they do?"
"Let's hurry it up!" Ruby called as she suddenly appeared from the hallway dragging Kiriko and Rico along with her. Serena, Arvo, and Latias appeared behind her. "I demand food!"
"Oh Ruby." Ash shook his head in amusement.
"Kiriko also demands food... I mean, she's not in the mental state to really be conveying it on her own at the moment, but her stomach keeps rumbling, so I assume she's hungry. Laura wants food too."
"Don't you speak on my behalf!" Latias snapped, only for her stomach to growl loudly, causing her to place her palm on her stomach with an embarrassed blush.
"She's such a kid." Iris murmured. "Like father like daughter I guess." Ash chuckled.
"Alright, let's go."
As the group walked, a group of Paladins escorted them to the room where the gathering was to be held.
"ASSHOLE!" Ash sighed, feeling a headache coming on.
"Stop them." Was all he said. The two Paladins at the front of the group whipped out shock batons, crossing them in front of the group, letting loose a series of sparks as the two batons collided, causing Misty to skid to a halt, the rest of the traitors watching wearily. Kiriko abruptly moved behind Ruby, who paused from showing Arvo her new manga. "Careful." Ash began lowly. "Those things fucking hurt." He indicated the shock batons. "Now, at the moment, you are all being considered threats, so I suggest you pick your next moves very carefully. What do you want?"
"You know why we're fucking here!" May snapped. Ash sighed.
"Yeah yeah, give my dream and all that other bullshit. Is this gonna take long, we have somewhere to be."
"Battle me, now!" Max demanded.
"That's not gonna be happening right now."
"Why, cause you're afraid you'll lose?" Max taunted.
"No, because as I already explained, we have somewhere to be. I don't have to to deal with an egotistical four eyes, his whiny sister, a pervert, Berry, who wasn't made any cooler by joining these morons, and an orange haired, small chested bitch."
"You son of a- GLLLKGGGL!" Misty's hammer flattered to the floor as a shock batons was jabbed into her gut, causing her to drop to the floor in a spasming mess while the other traitors looked on in shock.
"Now, if we're done here-"
"I just thought of something." Ruby spoke up, getting everyone's attention. "Dad's identity is pretty public knowledge. Did you guys seriously not research this Region before you came here?" The Traitors stared at her, stupified by what she had just said.
"Huh, didn't think about that." Ash said as he shook his head. He turned to the Traitors. "Move aside unless you want to end up like Misty." The group scrambled out of the way as Ash's group was led though the hall, the Traitors too shocked to notice the odd drop in temperature that seemed to follow Ruby in particular.