AN: Darkrai is a one-of-a-kind legendary. I know that's not exactly canon, but it's how it is in this story's world.

I finished up my breakfast and walked out of the pokemon center, rubbing the tiredness out of my eyes. The sun was barely peeking over the horizon, meaning I had little time to waste. After navigating the streets (and slipping once on a dew-saturated field, giving my body and clothes the coating of mud I seemed to get anywhere I went), I reached the Striaton City Gym. It was a large building, normally one of the best gourmet restaurants in the whole world.

I opened the doors, and was shocked to find it full. There were bodies crammed everywhere among the posh tables and seats in the large room. There were many screams and yelling. I shrugged and continued to walk in, pushing my way through the crowd to no where in particular.

"EVERYONE! LISTEN UP!" a voice yelled. I craned my neck to see what was happening. Although the crowd was largely made up of other 13 year olds, there just had to be the tallest kids all grouped together in front of me. I tried moving around, but this time, the people were holding their ground and not letting up.

"EVERYONE!" Another voice yelled, this time louder. Everyone instantly shut up (except for the tall people in front of me), and all eyes turned to what was apparently the three gym leaders standing atop the podium. I was surprised to see that their hair colors were blue, green, and red each; exactly like Arice, Kyra, and Tyson.

"We have 137 people signed up for today's challenge!" The red haired gym leader shouted. For some reason, the gym leaders weren't using microphones. "The rounds for the morning are the preliminaries! Only 32 people pass it!"

A lot of the challengers started grumbling about having to spend all day on the gym challenge. I wasn't about to complain, however. Getting to do battles all day would be great training. Plus, I was certain I was strong enough to defeat the gym leaders, so I had some confidence there.

"The first round in the preliminaries will cut down the contestants to 50; Each trainer will choose one pokemon to participate in a race! The slowest will disqualify their teams!" The red haired gym leader shouted, grinning.

More grumbles. I raised an eyebrow. It did make sense to not get into battles with so many trainers; however, I wasn't sure a race would be the best way to measure the trainers' strength. Another surprising fact was that the gym leaders must have different routines for everyone to be surprised by the race.

"It won't just be speed, however! Pokemon can attack each other on the race! Any fainted pokemon will be revived on the spot by a gym trainer, and they may continue after a five minute penalty!"

I thought there would be more complaints, but most challengers seemed to like the idea. I could tell luck would play a part in the race, which would obviously work against me.

"Follow me." The blue haired gym leader said, walking towards the exit. Although he hadn't yelled, everyone could hear him clearly. He seemed to be the most battle-hardened of the three gym leaders.

All the trainers followed the gym leader, who suddenly started sprinting when he was outside of the building.

"If you can't keep up, you don't deserve to even participate in the gym challenge," he said.

I easily kept up, staying at the head of the crowd. I noticed a few people walk away, their faces solemn. Well, at least this exercise would weed out he competition. I also noted the green and red haired gym leaders had stayed inside of the building.

Eventually, we reached the outskirts of the city, in a grassy field. After running for half an hour, most trainers were sweating like crazy, including me. I fell to the ground as the gym leader turned to face us. We all got a minute to catch our breath, after which the gym leader said, "I've counted 112 of you. You may all release one pokemon, and get them ready on the line. They'll have to reach the clearly marked ending straight north of this line, about two miles away." He pointed to a line made of tape on the ground

North of the line was a dense forest. No doubt there would be wild pokemon as well. I considered my options. Aack was obviously a bad choice, since he was a Slowpoke. 'Slow' was literally in his species name. Grime was a fast runner, but Monotone had the ability to float well above the trees. I decided to see what types of pokemon others were choosing. I noticed a lot of Patrats and Lillipups. The pokemon were already getting hostile.

Then Monotone was the obvious choice. Being able to avoid the conflicts by floating above the grounded pokemon would certainly save time. I released my Poipole, and gave him a run-down of what was happening.

"I see. I will avoid conflicts, save time," he said. I nodded, and smiled. "Good luck! We're all counting on you."

I watched him line up. I was surprised to see an adult challenger release a female Pyroar. It was entirely possible he had already gotten at least one regional recommendation. Then I noticed another adult. My eyes widened.

It was the drunk man.

I immediately walked away from where he was, hiding among a cluster of other challengers. He didn't notice me, and I believed it would be best to keep it that way. So he really was a trainer...

"All trainers, you will be staying here in this field," The gym leader said. "I see all of the pokemon are lined up. Anyone who breaks the rules will be immediately disqualified. I haven't ruled out anything I haven't said, so yes, teleportation is allowed. Now begin."

It was chaos. Only a few pokemon actually got going; most started attacking each other right off the bat. Luckily, Monotone was able to quickly fly up above the trees and get started. However, just as he was about to leave my field of view, a plume of lava struck him from below, dropping his body into the trees beneath.

I let out a squeal of dismay, and I noticed the adult who had owned the Pyroar was smirking. I narrowed my eyes. Nonetheless, a good amount of pokemon had fainted right on the starting line, so at least I wasn't dead last or anything.

After five minutes, the fainted pokemon woke up. A few of them were attacking and fainted again, but most were able to go into the forests.

After twenty-ish minutes, there were no pokemon left in sight.

"Well, everyone, follow me again. I'll lead you to the finish line. We already have a few pokemon there," The blue haired gym leader said.

I followed the gym leader, who was again sprinting, in a curve to get to the finish line. We probably had to run three miles that time, and I honestly felt like quitting a few times. Some people around me did so, after which the gym leader said they were disqualified, no matter what their pokemon had achieved in the race.

I made it to end near the end of the crowd, and I noticed that there were a couple dozen pokemon there. There weren't any Poipoles, however.

I waited patiently under the blazing sun, watching as the pokemon count reached 45. By then, I had decided we had probably lost. I was about to go complain to the gym leader about the crappy system when I saw my Poipole floating above the trees, coming in at 46th. I cheered and ran towards him, but then I realized there was something... different about the Poipole.

"That's mine, kid," A girl my age said, snarling.

"But that's a Poipole..." I said, confused.

The girl returned 'her' Poipole. It actually went inside a Beast Ball of hers. "You aren't a Shifter, so there's no way you would have a Poipole."

I frowned. "I was given the Poipole by a bunch of aliens. I'm not a... what was it? Shifter?"

"Heh! Which idiots would give you a Poipole! The aliens on the Ultra Planet work hard to make sure no Poipoles or Naganadels live on this planet. I actually stole my Poipole right under their noses!"

I shrugged. I knew it wasn't my Poipole, so there wasn't any point talking to the salty girl. I walked away, and she just glared at me.

A few minutes later, the blue haired gym leader cleared his throat, then said, "50 pokemon have crossed the finish line. The challenge will continue at noon in the gym. For those of you who don't have your pokemon, the gym trainers should be rounding them up as I speak. Stay here until you get your pokemon, then you leave." After saying that, the gym leader walked back to Striaton City. I noticed the drunk guy and the Pyroar adult had both qualified; the drunk guy had used an Archen.

I plopped myself down on the ground and looked at the other failures. They were all 13 year olds, like me, and some were even crying. I didn't care that much. I would just have to move onto the second gym leader in Nacrene City. After fetching Ray, I could just come back anyways and easily complete the gym. Of course, I would miss out on the perks of having a gym badge, like bigger pokemon center rooms, more pokemon center features, discounts at pokemarts, and more respect, to name a few. That thought just ruined my mood.

I noticed a fainted Poipole being carried in an adult's hands. I ran to him. "He's yours? He actually fainted in this large ditch or something and it was really hard to get him out. Considering that, you get to pass."

I thanked the gym trainer and returned Monotone, grinning. Then I frowned. I turned back to the gym trainer. "Why didn't you revive him?" I asked.

The gym trainer smiled apologetically. "I ran out of revives. There were much more battles than we had thought."

I shrugged and walked back to Striaton City. Was I technically the 51st place? That didn't make any sense.

Ray entered Diglett's Tunnel at the crack of dawn. At midnight, he had ran away from the resort to Heahea City, after which he went south to Diglett's Tunnel. Although the servants and endless money was enticing, Ray was concerned for his friend. He knew his friend was concerned about him, as well. Ray saw a wild Diglett, and noted its speed. Definitely above his level. Sighing, Ray went back to Heahea City, deciding to just go into the pokemon center, even though that would probably be the first place his servants would check when looking for him.

Heahea City was a port city in Akala, an island in Alola. It had a variety of amenities and festivities, making it a lively place, even in the early morning.

Ray entered the pokemon center and booked a room with the nurse. Then he went to his room, and closed the door behind him, sighing in relief.

But he wasn't alone.

"Ray, It baffles me that you would decide to run away," one of his servants said. They were both sitting atop his bed, clad in shiny black clothes as usual.

Ray hung his head in shame. "I guess I am stupid. Getting caught so easily..."

One of the servants released an Alakazam, and said, "we will now report this to Ratem. Let's see what he decides to do with you."

"I see," The green haired gym leader, Cilan, said. I was inside the gym, talking to the three gym leaders about my situation.

"This completely messes up our plan," Cress, the blue haired gym leader, said. He was frowning deeply, which put me on edge.

"Yes, Cress, but we can just change it. There's one trainer who already completed the Kalos region. We can let him skip the next round. He's already proved his worth."

Chilli, the red haired gym leader, nodded. "Yes, that's fine. It's decided then. Kid, you're still in the challenge. For your troubles, how about some tea? It's on us!"

My mouth watered. Normally, I thought coffee was superior to tea in every way. However, the tea made by the Striaton City gym leaders was considered the best tea in the world. It was also the most expensive beverage in the world, costing what a doctor made in a month for just one cup. People who could drink a cup even considered it the best moments of their life "Y-y-yes please!" I stuttered. "B-but why do I deserve it?"

Chili laughed. "Because you were inconvenienced by Cress's stupid preliminary idea. C'mon, it's alright!"

I nodded, not wanting to protest anymore. I watched as the three gym leaders went through a door at the back of the dining room, and I took a seat at one of the posh tables. I got drool over the white, pristine table cloth, and quickly ran over to a different table. That was gross.

Just five minutes later, the three trainers arrived at my table with a steaming cup of tea. The cup was made of white porcelain.

"While we wait for it to cool down, let's talk!" Chili shouted, even though I was sitting half a meter away from him.

I shrugged, a little nervous about talking to gym leaders. I didn't feel like I deserved that right.

"So where are you from!" Chili shouted. Cilan glanced at him meaningfully, and Chili smiled. "Never mind that! What's your favorite pokemon!"

I shrugged. "Darkrai, I guess. Uh, what about you?" I tried smiling but it just came out as a grimace.

"Simisear! I have one! Of course, I don't use it for gym battles, but yeah!" Chili shouted enthusiastically. "I also like pie!"

I raised an eyebrow. I blew on the tea and took a sip, and my head burst with flavor and smooth texture, the herbal bites joining perfectly with the liquidy rush and the perfectly added sugar. I found myself smacking my lips loudly, after which I stopped and blushed furiously. "Sorry..."

Cress shook his head. "Don't worry kid, the prime minister of Unova, Iris, fell unconscious from one sip. Some people actually thought we had poisoned her."

I laughed, then realized that was improper and covered my mouth. Honestly, being with rich people was weird.

I finished the tea with delight, and got up. I bowed, and said, "thanks for the tea, eh... gentlemen. I'll take my leave."

I was about to walk away when Cilan said, "good luck, young trainer." I smiled, happy I had actually made a good relation with people for once, and walked out of the restaurant.

Chapter 17 MC/age/pokemon changes: NONE

.-.-.

Monotone - Peck, Growl, Acid, Venoshock

Grime - Tackle, Howl, Odor Sleuth, Bite

Aack - Yawn, Tackle, Confusion, Water Gun