A/N: Hello once again friends. This is your friendly neighborhood doctor with another dose of Evolution for you all to enjoy.
Tyler: New chapter? So we're finally getting into the tag tournament?
DrPhill26: That's right. And with this latest chapter, I'm proud to announce that our first pair of OCs will be making their official debuts in the story.
Wendy: Ooh! I'm so excited, I can't wait to meet them! I bet we'll be the best of friends...
Tyler: Wait... wasn't Shaq's character the first OC submitted to the story back in Chapter 28?
DrPhill26: Well... yes, but these are the first two since we officially opened the doors to everyone who wanted to submit an OC, which by the way, is still open to all of you who are interested.
Wendy: So these two aren't the first OCs in the story, they're the second and third.
DrPhill26: Look we're arguing semantics. Don't you two want to meet these new characters or no?
Wendy: YES! Because I just know that they'll be my best friends. I've got a real good feeling that I'm gonna like them.
Tyler: You read the title of the chapter didn't you?
Wendy: ...Maybe :P
DrPhill26: Alright, we're getting started before we become anymore self-aware here. Enjoy yourselves reader. Once more, Tyler and Wendy's team lists will be at the end of the chapter. And before you ask, no I will not be doing the same with OC characters for the time being.
"What do you think Wendy?" Tyler asked as he stared at himself in the mirror, holding his moped goggles in front of him. "Goggles on the forehead, or around my neck like this?"
"Honestly, I think you've spent more time getting ready for this tournament than me." Wendy groaned as she stepped into the bathroom to join him.
"What? I want to look good during the ceremony." Tyler protested, looking back at himself in the mirror. His red hair was looking as cooperative as its usual disheveled look allowed, and his short beard was trimmed to look professional. His outfit was decided on days ago, wearing his orange shirt with the black Poké ball outline dead center of his black and steel colored jacket, which he was wearing un-zipped. He wore cargo shorts beneath that, olive colored and his trainers' belt was around his waist with his three Pokémon resting on his right hip. The only thing left was deciding what to do with his goggles, which sadly had already taken half an hour with no progress. "Unlike you, I don't look good in everything I wear."
"Oh you're just saying that." Wendy laughed as Tyler took a look at her through the mirror's reflection. She was wearing her usual long-sleeved purple and black striped shirt and the faded blue jeans like he normally saw her in. The only difference in her outfit today was that Wendy also had another sky blue shirt on above that, tied up in a knot just beneath her chest. That and she was also wearing a necklace, a simple silver bangle with a heart and an amethyst colored gemstone in the center of it.
"I'm not just saying that; you look great. I on the other hand need to figure out what to do with these goggles."
"Tyler, you look fine enough without them." Wendy sighed, getting impatient with him. "I understand wearing them while we drive to Hearthome, but in the ceremony?"
"I think they look cool."
"I think they make you look like a kid, which greatly clashes with your beard… especially if they're on your forehead like that."
"So the forehead is a no-go? But what about actually wearing them?" Tyler moved the goggles over his eyes, seeing the slight gray tint in his vision.
"UGH!" Wendy stormed off, throwing her hands up in disgust as she walked down the nearby stairs. "You've got five minutes Tyler. If not, I'm taking your moped and leaving without you!"
"Hovercraft!"
"Well I'm still leaving without you!" Tyler heard the sound of the front door closing in a slam and turned back to the mirror.
"She can't go anywhere without the key." Tyler rolled his eyes, pulling the goggles down to his neck. "I don't care what she thinks. I think I look good." He looked himself over top to bottom one last time, clenching his fist in a guts pose. "Alright! I'm finally ready." He turned towards the door, beginning to walk out the door when he heard the faint sound of an engine coming to life from out the window. He figured it was Wendy's dad on the four-wheeler, but curiosity made him check anyway where he saw Wendy cheekily waving at him from on the back of his hovercraft.
Tyler quickly bolted out the bathroom door and ran through the house, almost falling down the stairs and out the door outside before actually regaining his balance. He looked towards the side of the house; hearing and then watching Wendy drive the moped slowly back to where Tyler was standing. Tyler folded his arms and leered at Wendy, who playfully stuck her tongue out at him while slowing to a stop.
"You stole my keys." Tyler grumbled.
"I told you I was going to leave without you." Wendy tossed Tyler his helmet, which he caught and put on his head, pulling his goggles in place over his eyes.
"Whatever, just scoot back. I'm driving."
"Not without saying goodbye you're not." Tyler turned back towards the house and saw both Mr. and Mrs. Riding walking towards the two of them. Tyler hadn't spent a lot of time with Wendy's mother during the week, so he was still getting used to her appearance, but could see a lot of Wendy in her. She looked just like an older version of Wendy, and at 40 some years old she still looked fantastic, making Tyler excited for Wendy's future if they stayed together that long. She wore her hair like Wendy, shoulder length brunette minus the highlights. Her eyes were the same shade of green as Wendy's, only looking more motherly than the youthful excitement that Tyler saw in Wendy's. Even their outfits were still fairly similar, Mrs. Riding wearing a red and black plaid shirt over blue jeans instead of Wendy's traditional sweater.
"I know that both of you are excited for this tournament, but that's not an excuse to leave without saying goodbye." Mrs. Riding's voice spoke warmly as she called both of them over to them.
"I didn't forget. I was just encouraging Tyler to get a move on." Wendy turned off the moped and jogged over to her parents.
"By stealing my hovercraft?" Wendy dodged Tyler's comment by giving her mother a hug.
"I'm actually quite surprised that you're doing this Wendy." Her mother said as they hugged. "You've never been one to show much interest in battling before. Now out of the blue you're in a tag team tournament?"
"Yeah what happened? Did Tyler light a fire in you or something?" Dad added as he received his own hug.
"Not really." Wendy light-heartedly replied. "I just really want to beat somebody else who's participating."
"You don't mean Tyler do you?"
"Well, I mean I want to beat him." Wendy slowly walked backwards towards Tyler. But there's somebody else who deserves to lose and I want to be the one who hands him that loss."
"Just so we're clear, you guys will be staying in Hearthome during the weekend right?" Wendy's mom asked.
"That's right; we'll be staying at my apartment."
"Okay. We'll be sure to call you Tyler when we find out if Yuki has an egg or not." She added to Tyler."
"Actually, call her instead. I need to get my phone repaired." Tyler frowned, remembering the cracked screen from a couple days ago.
"Oh, okay then. We should know by Saturday evening so expect a call then."
"Alright." Tyler placed his arm around Wendy's shoulder. "So shall we take off?"
"Oh wait a sec!" Wendy jogged back over to her mother, handing her phone to her. "I want a picture." Tyler rolled his eyes but smiled as Wendy jogged back to his side. She wrapped her arms around Tyler's and rested her head against Tyler's shoulder. Both of them smiled at the camera and heard the clicking noise of a photo being taken.
"You two look very cute together." Wendy ran out and grabbed her phone, giving mom and dad a kiss before joining Tyler on his moped and putting her purple helmet on.
"Next stop, Hearthome City." Tyler turned his moped on, and revved the engine to life, slowly driving down the dirt path towards the well traveled roads of route 210. Wendy wrapped her arms around Tyler's stomach, pressing herself against Tyler's back as they reached the end of the wooden fences.
"Glae-cee-on!" Tyler looked back towards the house and saw Yuki racing after him on the inside of the fences. He took one hand off the handlebars, slowing down enough so that he could wave at her.
"Bye princess. Take it easy this weekend okay." Tyler said as Yuki jumped over a log and continued to chase them.
"Yuki! We'll be back real soon okay cutie!" Wendy let go of Tyler, waving both hands above her head. "I miss you already!"
"Glae-cee!" Yuki finally slowed down as she'd reached the edge of the fence, standing on her hind legs enough to put her front paws on one of the fence posts. Tyler turned his attention back to the road as did Wendy, who wrapped her arms around him again in more of a hug than the normal grip-so-i-don't-fall-off kind of way.
"Yuki is just the cutest." Wendy said dreamily. "I hope my Eevee will be just like her."
"I bet she will." Tyler remarked, revving the engine up to go faster.
"She'll make a great mommy."
"I think so too." Four hours of riding in on the dirt trails between Solaceon and Hearthome City later, Tyler and Wendy found themselves on the cusp of the large city's eastern edge. With Wendy as his copilot, Tyler navigated their way through the streets and made their way to the southern area of the city when traffic in the street became noticeably thicker all of a sudden. Even if the two of them were on a nimble moped, the roads had become clogged with busses, cars and other vehicles, which all seemed to be funneling in the direction Tyler and Wendy were heading. Wendy checked the time on her phone, telling herthey had half an hour to report to the stadium, which Wendy also mentioned out wasn't enough time to ditch their ride at her apartment and walk back here. So Tyler mumbled a string of curse words and continued to endure the traffic jam.
Fortunately or the two of them, they happened to come across a parking meter that had an open slot for it and Tyler quickly veered in, deciding it'd be faster to just walk the rest of the way since the stadium was starting to come into view along the top of the skyscrapers. Wendy filled up the meter and together the two of them departed on feet. Tyler's heart began to beat in excitement as he gazed upon what Wendy told him was the multi-layered white dome that was covering the battlefield. Despite the colossal size of this stadium, it was actually rather reassuring to him as he approached the stadium. Its outward appearance reminded him of the old coliseum in Phenac City before it was closed due to the construction of Relgam Tower.
Of course upon actually seeing the stadium after stepping out of the skyscraper's shadows, that sense of nostalgia was replaced with overpowering intimidation. This was the largest Pokémon stadium that Tyler had ever seen in his life. It easily dwarfed the Orre coliseum in both size and modernity, trading the limestone and ancient appearance back home for a sleek, modern bowl-shaped design with large glass windows along its outermost edges. Thousands of people were already funneling inside of one of the nearby gates, above which was a Poké ball with wings that looked like a pilot's badge. Nervously, he asked Wendy how many people could fit inside the stadium if it was sold out, to which she answered about 81,000 people, but she doubted that many would be there for the opening ceremony. Regardless of that fact, Tyler's heart almost jumped out of his chest when he heard the number, which made Wendy laugh as she saw her previously confident boyfriend begin to clam up. She on the other hand was now starting to act as excited as Tyler thought he would be as the energy floating through the atmosphere around the stadium was fueling her sense of adrenaline.
They made their way towards the pilot-wing gate they'd seen earlier and found a pair of security guards that were standing on the edge of the line, with Wendy asking the two of them where participants were supposed to report. After showing them their entry passes to confirm their participation, the shorter of the two guards let them slip past one of the security barricades and jump the crowd towards the gate. He then proceeded to guide them further through a large crowd of already excited onlookers towards the eastern edge of the seating bowl and to an unattended door. He pulled a plastic card out of his pocket and swiped it through an electronic lock, opening the door. The three of them then went down a staircase that led to another bowl shaped underground the stadium, only significantly narrower than the large one above it and completely devoid of people.
A few minutes later of walking, the two of them saw someone else who looked like a trainer walking down a hallway in front of them. That's when the security guard told them that they were to check in with a man behind a desk just around the corner from where they were. Both Wendy and Tyler thanked him for his assistance and found said receptionist wearing a green jacket with the pilot-wing logo on it again above his heart.
"You two participants?" The man asked as he saw the two of them approaching him.
"That's right." Wendy happily chirped in response as Tyler fell in line behind her.
"I'll need to see your passes then." Wendy slid hers across the metal countertop as did Tyler after getting his out of his pocket. The man picked up both slips of paper and looked them over quickly, then typed away at a keyboard to his side. "Numbers 85 and 86 reporting in." He said into a headset microphone Tyler only just noticed was on his ear. The two waited a bit before the man pulled a stamp out of his pocket and pressed it against both their passes which of course was in the shape of the pilot-wings Poké ball. Tyler made a mental note to ask Wendy if that logo meant anything important.
"Good, you two are checked in. Take the hallway down to your left and go through the second set of double doors. There's a lobby there where other participants numbered 65-96 are waiting, that's where you will be staying until the opening ceremony begins." The man explained.
"Alright thanks."
"Wait miss." Wendy stopped in her tracks, having already turned towards the hallway. "I wasn't finished yet." He added with a less than enthused tone of voice.
"My mistake." Wendy stuck her tongue out cheekily as she walked back towards Tyler, who shook his head at her. "What?"
"As part of the opening ceremony, one of your Pokémon will be standing by your side. You're allowed to have that Pokémon by your side in the waiting room as well, but do control your partner if you choose to do so and certainly do not battle any of the trainers in the room. Otherwise welcome to South Stadium and good luck in the first round." Wendy and Tyler both looked at the man expectantly as he went back to his computer monitor. "Oh, you're both dismissed."
"Thank you." Wendy smiled at the man as both she and Tyler started down the hallway. Wendy looked back over her shoulder for a moment, then leaned close to Tyler and whispered in his ear. "That guy sounded so bored."
"I know; it felt like he didn't want to be there at all." Tyler agreed.
"You mean like you were when you saw the stadium? Seriously, you looked like you were going to barf or something." Wendy teasingly elbowed Tyler's chest.
"Shut up." Tyler lightly pushed her away from him, only for her to loop her arms around his and cuddle him.
"You know you love me." Tyler shook his head with a smile on his face as the two of them walked past the first set of double doors, seeing the second not too far away from them.
"So who's your partner going to be in the ceremony?" Tyler asked as he already reached for Magnus' Poké ball.
"Do you even have to ask?" Wendy rolled her eyes as she released Pulse from his ball as he and Magnus both materialized inside their silver spark showers. "You're so predictable." Wendy teased as she saw Magnus scamper to Tyler's side.
"So are you." Tyler smirked as Pulse fell in stride behind his trainer and the group of four approached the second set of doors. "You ready for this? Last chance to run away."
"And forfeit a tournament I'm already going to win? Yeah right." Wendy confidently stepped forward and pressed the handle of the door in, pushing it open and she, Tyler and their Pokémon stepped into the waiting room.
As the two of them stepped into the room they were met with a wall of excited chattering from all the other trainers and their Pokémon who'd already arrived. Most of the trainers were clustered up in groups of two or three and holding friendly conversations with each other and their Pokémon. Tyler in particular saw a blonde haired boy laughing with another raven haired boy as they sat on a bench next to a Machoke and a Phanpy that were probably their Pokémon. Another scan of the room found a beefy looking guy in a leather jacket and his Krokorok and talking enthusiastically to his partner beside a glasses wearing girl who looked annoyed as she pulled her book up closer to her face and scooted closer to her Miltank.
"Hey look! There's a space over there!" Wendy grabbed Tyler's arm and before he registered it, he was being dragged across the floor towards a more open area of the lobby and an open circular shaped bench.
"I can't believe we're actually here." Tyler remarked, continuing to scan the room.
"I know! Aren't you excited?! This is going to be so much fun!" Wendy excitedly squirmed in her seat.
"I'm actually really surprised that you seem so…"
"Hyper?"
"Relaxed actually. Aren't you the least bit curious about some of these people?" Tyler looked back at Wendy. "Odds are, at least a couple of these people will be your opponent in the first round, or maybe even your partner."
"I'll worry about that when I need to." Wendy dismissed Tyler's comment completely. "I mean, how am I supposed to come up with any kind strategy when I don't know who my partner is?" Tyler opened his mouth to say something, but realized Wendy was completely right. "If you worry too much you'll burn yourself out before the first round. Try to relax and just enjoy the moment."
"You sure you haven't done anything like this before?" Tyler laughed as Wendy put her arm around him.
"Once before actually, and I'm kind of disappointed that everyone still has their clothes on."
"Wait what?" Tyler looked at Wendy in complete shock. "What are you talking about? Why would anyone be taking their clothes off at a time like this?"
"Well think about it. All these good looking people in a room together, each one with their own Pokémon, doesn't this just scream orgy waiting to happen to you?" Tyler placed his hand over his eyes and shook his head as Wendy continued to laugh at her lame attempt at a joke.
"Goddammit Wendy…"
"I told you to loosen up Tyler. You're stiff in all the wrong places right now." Wendy's snickering continued, making Tyler wish he'd decided to talk to another person during the wait.
"I am really worried about your partner." Tyler felt Wendy give him some sort of a hug, feeling her lightly press her head against his back. "I hope for their sake that they're able to put up with you."
"I'm sure they'll love me as soon as we meet. You loved me right away when we met right?" Wendy's merry laughter grew louder as Tyler cracked a smile.
"Wendy?"
"You have to speak up Ty or I can't hear you."
"But I didn't say anything." Tyler said.
"Wait, you didn't?" Wendy lifted her head off Tyler's back which let Tyler sit up as well. He looked over at her as she now started looking around the room. "Then who said my name?"
"Don't ask me. All I could hear was you laughing as you glomped my back."
"Wendy Riding?"
"There it is again." Wendy frowned, sweeping her gaze back to her right. "Who keeps calling my na - … Will? William Weiland, is that you?"
"Holy shit it is you! HEY!"
"OH MY GOD WILL!" Tyler turned in time to see Wendy take off to the other side of the room and leap into the arms of a large black-haired man in a teal colored jacket and dark blue jeans. He caught her easily and spun her around in circles, both of them laughing happily as if they hadn't seen each other in ages. Tyler looked suspiciously at the man nonetheless, watching his ponytail swing around with each spin and walked towards Wendy as she was finally put on the ground again.
"I haven't seen you in seven months you giant teddy bear! How are you? Where have you been? What are you doing here?"
"I should be asking you the same questions." The man replied behind a huge smile. "We haven't seen each other since back in Nimbasa City right?"
"Is Rosetta here too?" Wendy asked again as Tyler now stood by her side.
"Of course, we're both going to take part in the tournament… wait, if you're here, does that mean that-"
"Yup! I'm participating too." Wendy shortly bounced in place, barely able to control her excitement at seeing this man.
"What? No way. You never do stuff like this." The man looked at Wendy in disbelief. "Who are you and what have you done with Wendy?"
"I didn't do anything with her. I'm still the same fun-loving thrill seeker you know and love." Wendy pulled Tyler beside her and gave him an enthusiastic side hug. "Only thing different is he's my partner in crime instead of you."
"Oh? What's your name stranger?" The man extended his hand to Tyler.
"Tyler Lawson." Tyler slapped his hand into the man's own, but just as quickly regretted it as he felt his hand get crushed beneath his grip.
"William Weiland. Pleasure to meet you." Despite the pain in his hand, Tyler reflected the man's warm smile while taking a better look at the man. He really did remind Tyler of a giant teddy bear like Wendy had referred to him earlier. He stood half a head taller than Tyler, and the grip on his hand coupled with his broad muscular looking shoulders definitely showed he had more than a little bit of power in his body. But everything else about him just screamed gentle giant. His innocent dimple-filled smile, the soothing, caring look in his turquoise colored eyes, even his short goatee looked kind of like the fuzzy fur of a teddy bear.
"Why don't you two join us and chat for a bit?" William offered. "We've still got a while before the ceremony begins. And I'm sure Rosetta would love to catch up for a bit, as well as meet you Tyler."
"Do you even have to ask? I was going to whether you wanted me to or not." Wendy laughed as William led the two of them back through the room.
"He is so freaking strong!" Tyler whispered to Wendy, finally finding a time to shake some feeling back into his hand. "How did you not get crushed in that bear hug he gave you?"
"I guess I'm just stronger than you." Wendy grabbed Tyler's hand, then raised it to her lips and gave it a kiss. "There, did the boo-boo go away my widdle Ty-ty?"
"Piss off." Tyler jerked his hand away from Wendy to limply hold it in his own as Wendy quietly laughed at his expense. "But yes…"
"Hey Rose! Look who I found!" Tyler looked around the room again, trying to find this woman and noticed someone who responded out of the corner of his eye. She stood up, placing her arms on her hips between the two Pokémon beside her. One of them Tyler recognized as an Absol, its silky white fur and the scythe like horn on its head being hard to mistake. The other he'd never seen before but it looked imposing. It stood on four legs like Absol, about a foot taller than it, and had brown fur instead of white in addition to a monstrous red and yellow striped mane of fur around its neck. But Tyler's gaze fell back to the woman, who looked at Wendy with a confident smirk on her lips.
"I had a feeling that you were here Wendy." Her smirk then broke into a smile just as gentle and warm as William's was. "You are the only woman besides me who can grab Will's attention as quickly as I can."
"Rosetta, hi! I missed you so much!" Wendy threw her arms out and embraced the woman in a deep hug, further accented with a kiss of her cheek, which got Tyler to slow his walk and stare at the two with intrigue. "How are you?"
"Not so good actually." The woman replied with a frown.
"What! Why? What happened?" The same smirk she had before returned as she placed her hand under Wendy's chin, forcing her to look in to her eyes.
"We haven't seen each other in months and that's how you say hello to me? Not good enough girl." The woman then swiftly lunged in, planting a tender kiss on Wendy's lips that greatly surprised Tyler. Even Wendy seemed surprised by this at first, but she quickly returned the favor, placing her arms around her apparent girlfriend with benefits and held her closer together. Tyler couldn't take his eyes off of the two girls even if he wanted to. He was spellbound, completely mesmerized at seeing for the first time in his life two very attractive women share a kiss with each other. He knew that his face was lighting up, knew that his heart was starting to beat faster and knew that something inside him was beginning to wake up.
"Ow!" Tyler also became painfully aware of a throbbing in the side of his forehead as he staggered back, placing his hand lightly on his head.
"You okay?" William asked, a small hint of laughter in his voice.
"Yeah… fine." Tyler frowned as he walked back towards William and the two girls, who finally finished their kiss behind some disappointed catcalls from the people around them.
"Really Ty?" Wendy cocked her hips as she looked at Tyler. "I take my eye off you for five seconds and you hurt yourself again? What did you do this time?"
"He just walked into a wall." William explained.
"Can you blame me?" Tyler protested "Two very attractive girls just start making out right next to me? Of course I'd be distracted by that, wouldn't you react like that?" William just smiled and let out a soft sigh in response.
"I used to. But when that's considered a 'normal greeting' for the two of them, you get used to it."
"That's a normal greeting?" Tyler's eyes practically bulged out of his head in disbelief. "How come I don't get that kind of greeting when you see me Wendy?"
"Uh… because you're not my girlfriend who I haven't seen in six months?"
"Seven months Wendy, and that's seven months more than is acceptable." Both women laughed together as they gave each other what Tyler would call a more traditional greeting between friends, a simple, yet energetic hug.
"I missed you so much!"
"I did too!"
*Ahem* William cleared his throat, motioning towards a half-circle shaped bench by the two Pokémon Tyler saw earlier.
"Shall we take a seat?" Will offered, taking a seat on the yellow bench and the other woman joined him. Tyler and Wendy sat on the other side, Tyler on the edge opposite William, Wendy between him and her girlfriend. "So, Wendy, are we going to be introduced to each other or what?"
"I was gonna introduce you guys… then I saw Rosetta and had to say hello to her first." Wendy laughed innocently as she placed her hand on Tyler's thigh. "Will, Rose, this is Tyler. He's a Pokémon trainer from Orre and we've been going out for about a month and a half now."
"Pleased to meet you." Tyler waved politely towards the pair across him.
"That's wonderful Wendy, congratulations." William replied courteously, but Tyler was more focused on Rosetta, who appeared to be looking at him with a critical eye. So he returned her gaze with a polite smile while observing her himself. First he was drawn to her hair, a beautiful flowing waterfall of deep auburn colored locks that she kept loose and at fell to her waist. Much like Wendy, she too had highlights in her hair, flecks of bright pink mostly around the left side of her heart-shaped face. Her enchantingly vibrant blue eyes studied Tyler closely behind a pair of glasses, which also sat above a small dotting of freckles across the bridge of her nose.
"You like what you see Tyler?" Rose sat back in her seat, arms folded across her golden colored t-shirt and atop her chest, which looked like a healthy c-cup like Tyler knew Wendy had. She crossed her legs as well beneath her skirt, drawing Tyler's attention back to her waist where he saw the white lace of what looked like a camisole top beneath her shirt lightly resting atop her red and black plaid skirt, with a simple heart design on its right hip. He felt his eyes wander a bit lower, towards the bottom of her skirt and towards the black leggings and the black leather boots beneath them.
"Like what you see?" Tyler mirrored the woman's pose, folding his arms across his chest and crossing his legs.
"I do actually." Rose playfully elbowed Wendy's chest. "Not bad girl. Maybe not William good, but pretty good." Tyler rolled his eyes looking back at the two across from him.
"Tyler, these are my two friends William Weiland and Rosetta Neoma."
"Nice to meet you." Rosetta extended her arm to Tyler, who shook it while William politely waved at him.
"William is the eldest son of the Weilands who own the ranch north of my parent's daycare. Remember them? I told them about you the other day?"
"The barbeque family right?"
"Yup, that's us." William replied with a smile. "Our parents met at a Pokémon breeder's conference in Johto like twenty-some years ago. Her dad was giving a presentation, my mom was in attendance and wanted to pick his brain after, and so they went out for coffee and became really good friends after that."
"Cool." Tyler nodded his head as Wendy pointed towards Rosetta.
"And Rosetta here is his and my girlfriend. What is it now, a little over five years now you've been together?" Tyler watched as Rose and William exchanged a warm smile with each other, William nodding at her.
"Actually…" Rosetta held up her hand towards Wendy and a silver sparkle caught Tyler's attention. He looked just as closely as Wendy did seeing a diamond ring on her finger. Tyler saw three diamonds sparkling radiantly in the light with an embedded set of diamonds in a spiraling design on the edge of the ring's silver band. "I'm not his girlfriend anymore."
"Ohmygod!" Wendy clapped her hands over her mouth in disbelief, bouncing and kicking her legs excitedly as she squealed in delight. "Rose! Ohmygod! Congratulations!" Wendy threw her arms around her friend excitedly and let out some excited squeal of raw emotion mixed with happiness, exhilaration, and every other form of joy that could exist. Tyler looked over at William with a smile of his own, silently nodding his own congratulatory wishes to the man, who politely nodded his own thanks.
"Since when?" Wendy squeaked out after finally letting go of Rosetta's body and letting her catch her breath.
"Three months ago, on our five year anniversary." Rosetta smiled, looking at her ring then at her fiancé. "Will here decided that he wanted to something extra special for our anniversary, so he booked us a weeklong vacation to the Kalos region. We spent a week touring all over the place like Lumiose, the beaches in Shalour, Anistar's sundial, you know just everywhere."
"Lucky… I wanted to see the sundial when I was there…" Wendy complained despite the happiness in her voice.
"So on the last day, we end up in Laverre City. You know, the one with that gigantic tree in the center of town?
"Uh-huh"
"Well it's close to sunset and we're at a café just enjoying each other's company, the gorgeous weather, how all the leaves are turning colors of like reds and oranges and it's just so lovely there. He says we should go on a little walk through town and so we do. Just a fun little trip through memory lane talking about all the great times we've had together and how we're always there for each other and just, you know, stuff like that."
"Uh-huh."
"So we come up to the center of town, beneath the base of that giant tree and out of nowhere comes this Klefki right? And it starts floating around Will and acting all friendly and I'm just smiling at him because you know how Pokémon act around him. They're just drawn to how gentle his soul is." Tyler noticed Will somewhat embarrassedly started scratching his goatee with his fingers. "Well, Klefki keeps dancing around Will and then it gives him each one of the keys it has before flying off."
"That's kind of weird." Wendy remarked.
"That's what I thought, but then Will looks at me with a smile and hands me one of the keys and he asks me 'Do you know what this key is?' and I'm like 'No…?' and he says 'This is the key of fate, the key that brought us together five years ago and unlocked the beginning of our relationship.' And I'm like 'Aw, that's real sweet of you.' He handed me the second key. 'This key represents my trust in you, which I firmly place in your hands.' He hands me the third and fourth keys together. 'These represent my body and my heart, both of which I also entrust to you."
"Oh my God!" Wendy started squealing with excitement again.
"Then he bends down on one knee and holds the last key in his outstretched hand up to me and it's got the ring tied to it with a charm shaped like a rose blossom, and he says 'And this final key represents my soul. Rosetta, through these past five years you have been with me through thick and thin, we've weathered every storm together and you've always been my crimson angel who has never once left my side.'
"Ohmygod ohmygod!"
'As I lay my everything before you, Rosetta Neoma, I ask you to join me on the greatest journey life has to offer and do me the honor of becoming my wife. Will you marry me?' And I just…" Rosetta looked up at Wendy, hands clasped over her mouth, shaking with excitement and tears welling up in her eyes. "Well, basically what you're doing now Wendy for like ten seconds before I barely choked out the words 'Yes William.' And then we kissed beneath the tree as the falling leaves danced in the breeze around us."
"Aw, that's so romantic!" Wendy cooed blissfully, wrapping her friend up in another warm hug. "I'm so happy for the two of you."
"Thanks Wendy." Both Will and Rose said at the same time, smiling at each other before Will kissed his fiancée's cheek.
"It's about time you two made it official." Wendy continued. "I mean all of us knew you two were made for each other years ago. I dunno what took you so long Will."
"I don't either." William replied, brushing Rosetta's hair off her shoulder. "I just wanted the moment to be as magical as possible and figured this was the right moment."
"Well you picked a perfect moment to do it." Rose lovingly gave William a kiss, the two of them staring tenderly into each other's eyes afterwards.
"So, next question obviously… when's the wedding?" Both Rose and Will flinched and exchanged a nervous look at each other.
"Actually we're still planning all that out." William explained. "We know it'll be in Sinnoh, which is why we're back here instead of in Unova at the moment. But aside from that, we haven't decided much yet."
"Ooh! Then can I be in the wedding? I'd make a great maid of honor, or at least one of the bridesmaids!" Tyler looked over, seeing Wendy had the same sparkle in her eyes like she were seeing an Eevee-lution and shook his head with a smile. "Did you go dress shopping yet? You need to take me along if you haven't. We'll find you the most beautiful dress in the entire world! I mean you'll look great in anything, but with me helping you out, nobody in the entire ceremony will be able to take their eyes off of you!"
"Is that a good thing or a bad thing?" Tyler quietly wondered to himself, knowing just how Wendy was capable of getting people's heads to turn.
"Of course you'll be a part of the ceremony." Rosetta smiled at her friend. "It wouldn't be a party without Wendy Riding right?"
"Yay! I'm so excited!" Wendy happily clapped her hands together.
"Well well well, look at all the excitement going on over here." An arrogant and unfortunately familiar sounding voice spoke from beside Tyler's field of vision. "Did I hear somebody say something about a party? Well parties might start without me, but when Shaquille Pabst arrives at a party, that's when it becomes legendary."
"Oh goddammit, not you again." Wendy frowned, as did Tyler with the later disdainfully looking at the mocha-skinned prick standing before them with his equally arrogant Espeon accompanying him.
"Oh and look at this! It's the little Mareep from the Pokémon Center too. Wow… the flock gets bigger and bigger with every day." Shaquille spoke with clearly fake enthusiasm.
"Sol…" The Absol shifted to a pounce-ready stance, lowly growling towards Shaq.
"Easy Nyxx, easy." William reassuringly placed his hand on the Absol's side, stroking its fur softly.
"There's even an alpha? You guys got a male Pyroar too?" Shaq turned his attention to the other Pokémon, who failed to acknowledge his presence. "Wow! I am so proud of you guys. Look at all the effort you're putting into becoming elites. You might just be worthy enough after all."
"What do you want Shaquille?" Tyler loudly growled as he stood in the man's face. "Can't you see you're butting in where you aren't welcome… again!"
"Hey easy, easy. Look, I apologize if it seems like I'm imposing again." Shaquille said with his same expression. "I just wanted to take the time to introduce you all to the person who's going to win the Tag Battle Tournament."
"What? You mean me?" Wendy joined Tyler, standing beside him. "I already know I'm going to win. You don't need to remind me of that."
"Ha! What a joke. Oh that's funny." Shaquille sneered at Wendy. "Says the girl who if I recall, said she's never been in a double battle before in her life. Did I hear that right sweetie? No? Am I wrong? Actually I believe I was um… I was talking about myself."
"Of course you were…" Tyler sighed, bracing himself for another narcissistic speech.
"But I'm not winning this tournament because I want to. That's not it at all."
"Then why are you even here?" Wendy glared back at him.
"Because beautiful, I'm here to win the tournament for you." Shaquille winked proudly at Wendy, which simultaneously made Tyler want to vomit and punch his head off.
"I'm flattered, truly I am." Wendy said disdainfully. "But in case you haven't noticed, I HAVE a boyfriend already, who's twice the man you'll ever be."
"Oh but I'm not just winning it for you, I'm winning it for him too." Shaq pointed his open palm towards Tyler. "And I'm going to win for you two as well, and also for every last one of you plebeians sitting in the room with me." Shaq loudly announced to the room, drawing its attention. "You see. It's not my intent to win this tournament just for my own goals and my own purposes. I'm doing it for all of you, because I care about all of you. And because I care about you guys so much, I have to win."
"What…" Tyler deadpanned, and he could feel the rest of the room collectively deadpanning with him.
"Now, I'm sure your feeble minds can't comprehend what I mean by that, so let me break it down and spoon feed it to you. You see, I know exactly what kind of lives every single one of you lives. Your lives are boring, unfulfilled; try as you might, you can't squeeze out even an ounce of fun to enjoy. I'm sure you all try so hard too, which makes it even more tragic that you can't fulfill the dreams that you set for yourselves…"
"Um… Tyler?" Tyler turned to Wendy as she poked his leg and looked at her curiously. "We should probably get out of here before Will blows his lid." Tyler now looked curiously at William across from him and saw his hulking body trembling as Shaq prattled on.
"Why?" He whispered back.
"Because William is about to go from playful teddy bear to pissed off Ursaring in about five seconds, and I'd rather not get Shaq's blood on my jeans." Tyler looked back over at the man he'd just met and almost did a double take as he saw him again. Gone was the impression of a gentle soul that had been described a moment ago. William had a fiercely dark scowl on his face, his chin resting atop his folded hands, almost like an assassin waiting to strike his target down in an instant. His eyes were firmly planted on the narcissistic speaker near him, waiting with a blood-boiling rage building inside him that Tyler could feel inside him, even as Wendy dragged him away from the about to erupt volcano.
"…And that's where I come in." Shaquille's speech continued. "You see, I am everything that you strive to be. I am your dreams personified. I'm untouchable, I'm absolutely flawless, I am perfection. And because I'm so good, because I am so perfect, that means I have to win for your sake. And by me winning this tournament, all of you can experience what it's like to live next to greatness, even for just the smallest of moments, you'll experience what it's like to be me."
"How is he still talking?" Tyler wondered to himself and could feel Wendy agreeing with him as she gripped his hand tighter while her own anger started to build.
"Frankly as I look at all of you, most of you don't deserve to be in my presence. You're all commoners, dressed up to think you're elites like me. Like you with the Gastrodon." Shaquille turned his attention to one of the people watching him. "Do you really think that brown slimeball would be able to touch me or my team? You know what, don't answer that, we already know you can't win." He turned to another person in the room.
"And you with the Ninetails? This isn't a Pokémon Contest lady, so your glorified fox with a mop on its butt doesn't stand a chance. But at least you aren't some wanabee-elite Mareep like this bitch with the Pyroar over here." Shaq pointed towards Rosetta, who took a half step forward towards him and opened her mouth to protest.
"That's ENOUGH out of you!" William roared to life, making Tyler and probably everyone else in the room flinch as the raw anger in his voice could probably make a Hydreigon whimper like a baby Caterpie. He stood up in a flash, grabbing Shaq by the scruff of his collar, pulling himself right next to him and looked him dead in the eyes. Shaq's Espeon tried to speak up for his trainer, barking at him in a Poké speak, but Will looked crossly at the Pokémon, shaking his head once and got it to back off. He returned his gaze to Shaquille.
"You don't know anything about any of us in this room, and yet you have the balls to look down on us and treat us like the dirt beneath your shoes? You think you're God's gift to the world, because of what? What right do you have to walk all over us like we're nothing?!"
"Oh shit, this is getting good." Wendy whispered half excitedly, half terrified as William's rage continued to boil over.
"Let me teach you a quick lesson about respect son. Respect isn't something that you can force others to give you. You have to earn respect, and acting like a self-entitled asshole who demands it from others is the fastest way to lose it! Thinking you're this gift from the heavens and that everyone should just worship you is the same backwards logic that made Team Galactic rise to power all those years ago. And you'd fit right in with the pathetic scum that made up their ranks."
"Note to self," Tyler nervously swallowed as he watched William's empowered speech continue. "Don't piss off William… or anyone that he knows for that matter, or he will kill you."
"Now let me make something very clear to you. You do not have my respect, you do not deserve my respect and you will never gain my respect. And if you so much as look at my fiancée again, let alone call her a bitch in my presence again…" William shoved Shaquille away from him into the ring of people surrounding the group, who just as quickly pushed him away from them as well. Will then grabbed the sleeves of his jacket and quickly took it off, throwing it on the floor and then rolling up the sleeves of his shirt before raising his fists to a confrontational fighting pose.
"Then I'll make sure your mouth is permanently sewn shut." The silence in the room was deafening, nobody wanted to move, and nobody wanted to even breathe as the room felt suffocated. Tyler felt severely intimidated and how couldn't you? If a monstrous human being was standing against you, fists raised and with an aura like Will's anger, Tyler figured whoever was facing it would be cowering. And yet, Shaq stood confidently before William, raising his arms and beginning a slow clap, even smiling as he looked at the man about to punch his head off.
"Now that's more like it. That's what makes an elite. I knew there'd at least be a few of you in this tournament." Shaquille reached into his pocket, pulling out his entry number ticket and holding it up towards William. "If by some lucky chance you get partnered with number 69, you and I will dominate this tournament."
"I'd sooner withdraw from the competition than partner with you." William quickly replied, keeping his fists clenched beneath his chin.
"Then I look forward to our fight in the tournament." Shaquille smirked again. "And even though I'll beat you, at least I know I'll have one fight worth my time… Let's get out of here Lancelot."
"Es-pee…" Shaquille's Espeon swished its tail and walked beside his trainer as they made their way to an isolated area of the room. Will finally lowered his fighting pose as the rest of the group dispersed around, leaving just the original group of four before their unwelcomed guest arrived.
"Well then…" Tyler said, still reeling from what had just happened. "That was… something."
"Thanks for making him leave my guardian knight." Rosetta walked up and grabbed Will's hand, holding it in both of hers, looking peacefully at her fiancé.
"Of course." Will said with a heavy exhale, but smiled, sitting back down at the bench. "You're not upset about what he said?"
"People like him talk out of their ass all the time anyway." Rosetta replied soothingly. "I could have taken care of him, but I still appreciate it." Rosetta stood as tall as she could to give Will a short peck of the cheek. And almost instantly, that powerful aura of his that Tyler had been feeling, disappeared and he went back to that gentle bear that Wendy had called him earlier.
"Sir William, you're such a gentleman." Wendy laughed as she spoke with a fake-regal accent, getting her knight to scratch the back of his neck embarrassedly.
"So uh… I don't mean to be rude if this comes across this way." Tyler started, Will and Rosetta looking at him curiously. "But is that common?"
"Oh by all means no." Will replied, dismissively shaking his hand. "I just don't appreciate his type, and certainly not how he treated all of you."
"Okay then." Tyler got a feeling that they should change the conversation topic quickly. He looked around, trying to find something to make said change and noticed William's tattoos on his sleeves that still were rolled up. "So, the tattoos. Those look pretty sweet."
"Yeah Will, I can see that you got them filled in finally." Wendy added as she grabbed Will's right arm and looked at his shoulder. "What have we got here? This one is a Raikou right?"
"Yeah." Will looked at his arm as well and did Tyler, where he saw the Electric dog of legend leaping off Will's bicep amidst a proud thunderstorm with a silvery-white stormcloud above the legend that was shaped like the Pokémon that was lazily sleeping on the floor in front of William. "We got Raikou here, and then Nyxx is right above him in the storm cloud."
"~Sol." The Absol yawned, standing up next to her trainer and Will lightly pet her head with his right, pointing at it with his left.
"Then on this arm we've got-"
"Attention trainers participating in the Tag Battle Tournament." A voice interrupted over an intercom system. "The Opening Ceremony of the tournament is about to begin. Organizers, please report to your assigned lobby at this time."
"Oh, guess I'll have to show you later." Will lamented, rolling his sleeves down and putting his jacket back on. As he did, his entrance card fell out of his pocket and onto the floor.
"73?" Tyler read the number aloud as Will picked it up. "Okay, I hope I get paired with that number then."
"What are your numbers anyway?" Rosetta asked curiously. "I just realized we never did find out what each other's numbers were." She reached into her purse and pulled out her own card while Tyler did the same from his back pocket. "Mines 74."
"85." Tyler said showing his card.
"86." Wendy said with her card. "So the numbers we want to hear are 73, 74, 85, and 86. That's easy to remember."
"As long as it's not 69, I think we'll all be happy." Rose shook her head and everyone else agreed.
"Lava?" Tyler felt a light poke on his leg and saw Magnus prodding his leg with his front leg. He looked up at his trainer, eager excitement burning in his eyes and Tyler nodded his own response.
"Damn right Magnus. Its time to light this tournament up." The tournament was finally about to begin. His heart was starting beating loudly in his chest. Finally he had a real chance to prove himself against one hundred other potential opponents. Whoever he was going to be partnered with, whether someone he knew, despised or a brand new partner didn't matter to him right now. But whoever was lucky enough to be partnered with him and Magnus were going to get one hell of a partner who confidently stepped into the growing line of Pokémon trainers organizing themselves for the ceremony. Tonight was going to be the start of Tyler's his next major trial in Sinnoh, and he was eager to come out on top.
A/N: And that's a wrap! 31 chapters are now officially in the books and I had a lot of fun with this one. I'm still surprised at just how many of you have messaged me about wanting to submit OC characters to this story. Writing this chapter with an OC in it has been a really fun process to do and makes me look very much forward to adding even more submitted characters in the future. And I must make a special shout out to my good friend Okenuthanos for submitting both his characters William and Rosetta to this story and has been real fun to work with these past few weeks :D
Okenuthanos: HI EVERYBODY! I hope you guys enjoy Will and Rosetta as much as I did making them. By the way Ty, I saw that dirty look you gave Will and trust me, you have nothing to worry about.
Tyler: *spits drink* Wait what? The hell are you talking about?! I was not checking out William at all!
Okenuthanos: Deny it all you want, but you were checking out both Will and Rose. We all saw it.
Tyler: Fuck you man! I'll admit to Rose, but not to William. I was not looking at him that way!
Wendy: It's okay if you were Ty. Believe me, I've been sneaking peeks at him for years already :P
Tyler: But he's engaged to Rosetta! Even if I was checking him out, which I WASN'T, it'd be-
Okenuthanos: Oh, but Rose wouldn't mind. In fact, she'd be encouraging you to explore your feelings with him.
Tyler: Wait what...
Wendy: Aw look at that Ty, you even have Rosetta's blessing, and mine too for that matter. Now follow your heart and go have fun with your new boyfriend.
Tyler: *screams and runs away*
Wendy: Wow, look at him go! He's so excited to get to try it with another man. I'm so proud of him!
Okenuthanos: *laughing* Hahaha! Oh my god I can't breathe!
DrPhill26: You guys are fucking brutal... I'm cutting you off before you scar him further. Now before I finish this up, those of you who have submitted OCs already and haven't heard from me in a while, I am in the process of developing your characters a little further and will be getting back to each of you relatively soon so we can talk about introducing them. Those of you who are in the process of submitting them, take all the time you want, there's no need to rush. Anyway, this is DrPhill26,
Okenuthanos: And Okenuthanos :)
DrPhill26: we're signing out and we hope to see you guys again real soon :)
Tyler's team: Magnus (Quilava, Male), Caelum (Staraptor, Male), Felix (Gligar, Male), Yuki* (Glaceon, Female) *currently at daycare*
Wendy's team: Pulse (Lucario, Male), Tess (Ampharos, Female), Yuri (Lilligant, Female)