A Duel of Legends
Chapter 3: Dance with the Dead
And so, after a long wait, one holiday, and an annoying admin, I get back on track. Thanks for keeping on board guys, it helps.
Jack awoke with a headache that immediately made him wish he'd stayed asleep. Whining so quietly that only he could hear himself, the headache got progressively worse as he got up and began to get dressed.
Jack was a Charmeleon Gijinka. Dressed, (now anyway), in his usual clothes of jeans, a yellow shirt, a red sweater, left open, and a red pair of shoes. His tail slipped through a hole in his jeans he'd had cut especially, fast enough not to burn the fabric. The hungover teen began looking for some kind of drink.
A desk with a letter caught his eye and made him stop the constant noise. The envelope had already been opened, but on the front it simply read, 'To the Competitors'. Flipping the envelope over, he notice someone had scrawled something, but in his current state he couldn't read the scrawl of whoever had added the note. Grumbling, he pulled out the piece of paper inside.
Since you're probably hungover, all contestants to the main hall. Follow the signs.
Jack put the letter down and looked outside his door. There were various signs pointing towards various places. Numerous paper ones had also been put up, all saying:
MAIN HALL THIS WAY
-
"Huh."
Jack pulled up his sweater hood and began walking in the direction of the arrows, praying for some painkillers.
"Name?"
"Jack Lee Kyrue."
The person was the shouty gijinka who'd been in charge of the group for the first part of the evening, until he'd merged with the group. He'd been a bit shouty crude with the group, but with the shouty Lopunny he'd had to deal with it was understandable. He was a bit shouty odd, but he knew what he was doing.
"Need some painkillers?"
"Please." Not so bad.
Clearing his head slowly of the niggling voice, Jack woke up properly. The main hall was BIG.
The contest was huge in itself. Jack knew that 90% of all humans were trainers in one form or another, and pacifist gijinka were practically unheard of. The tournament had been advertised worldwide, in a manner beyond any that had been done before. With a world of two languages, one of which humans didn't speak anyway, it was possible.
And the contestants!
Some must have missed the ceremony, because a part of the crowd had grown new. Groups of friends were forming thick and fast, old ones, new ones, some which would have been impossible otherwise. Jack noticed a Hydreigon Gijinka talking calmly to a trainer, his twin mouths acting as hands to emphasise a point. Charon, that was it, Charon, had seemingly just detached from a crowd himself, one person in which was his roommate, probably, and another of which he knew personally. Charon waved his hand.
"If you go and chat with people, pretty soon the first stage can start. I'll just go hand this in to the receptionists..."
Jack wandered over to the group. His friend smiled as he came nearer, while other members of the group nodded.
"Hey Jack."
"Hey Jordan."
Someone sniggered.
"Jack and Jordan, oh how poetic."
"Shut up Leo."
Jordan had large, pure white eyes, blackish purple skin, a gem which you could just about see through her top, three fingers that were almost like claws, and fang like teeth. At first sight she was terrifying. But most ghost and dark types were. Sabeleye were no exception.
"So, Jack, you know who you're supposed to be fighting with yet?"
"Can't say I do. Does anyone?"
"Not even the staff."
Breeze looked up at a huge wall-mounted screen.
"It's kept secret until right about..."
"LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, HUMANS, POKEMON AND GIJINKA. PLEASE ALL TURN TO THE SCREEN ABOVE YOUR HEADS."
"Now."
As one, the huge group looked up towards the ceiling and upper walls. The giant screen flickered to life, catching the attention of those too dumb to fully understand Charon. The Gijinka held a microphone.
"THIS SCREEN WILL NOW BE ON AT MOST TIMES. IT WILL SHOW PAIRINGS, YOUR OPPONENTS, AND THE CURRENT MATCHES. FOR NOW, YOU CAN SEE A BLANK SCREEN."
The screen hummed as a white patch. It flickered again as pictures of everyone fighting appeared, in two columns. Jack noticed that they were in different colours.
"NOW, THE TWO COLUMNS WILL BE SORTED ACCORDING TO WHO WILL WORK WITH WHO."
Pictures went through a roulette wheel of options. Pictures in an eye catching style, of numerous people, in various states, lined up. A Klinklang and girl next to a Lopunny and a guy. A Steelix and a girl next to a Gallade Gijinka. A Whimsicott Gijinka and a Glaceon Gijinka. The combinations went on for a good fifty seconds before the last one stopped.
"THERE YOU HAVE IT. EACH AND EVERY PAIRING."
The screen shifted the pictures. Numerous other screens lit up, with group numbers on all of them, and the names of each person with each picture. Breeze was with someone called Orson, the Gallade Gijinka, which made the group start.
"You have a Steelix?"
"Why wouldn't I?"
"TODAY," Charon continued, stopping the chatter, "EACH BOARD LABELS A GROUP. PEOPLE WITHIG GROUPS FIGHT EACH-OTHER. THE BEST FOUR PAIRS GO THROUGH AT THE END OF DAY THREE."
The boards all flicked to a plain blue background.
"AND NOW WE'LL FIND OUT WHO'S FIGHTING WHO!"
The boards flicked, and with a whooshing sound (followed by a 'ka-shing!') the days first battles were decided. People scanned them, with varying intentions.
"AND... I'M FIGHTING IN ARENA TWO APPARENTLY. ALRIGHT, EVERYONE HEAD UP TOP, THEN WE CAN GET THE GROUPS FULLY SORTED. IF YOU'RE FIGHTING HEAD THROUGH THE LARGE DOORS LABELED 'CONTESTANTS'. LET'S GO PEOPLE, FIGHTS START IN FIFTEEN MINUTES."
"Well, I've been paired with Charon, I'll see you guys later."
Leo began walking towards the door, waving. Breeze looked around.
"I wonder where my partner is? I could do with the practice first..."
"Ah-ha-hai hear you people of Earth! Are you all in the zooone!?"
The crowd screamed. The man wore purple clothes and had hair like a Voltorb, but he was loved almost universally by people. His name was Miror B. And he lived to rock, on and off the dance floor.
"Yeaaaaah! That is one heeelll of a vibe! Are you ready for this crazy action?"
Everyone screamed.
"Awwwwllright! Let's see who's up."
The screen split into four, each subscreen with four people on.
"In my little old corner we have a shocking battle in the Electric Stadium with Leo and Charon versus Jovi and Poppin!"
Down in the arena, Charon pulled a rice-farmers hat onto his head. Leo looked over at him.
"Do you really need to wear that?"
"I feel like I ought to."
Poppin turned out to be the Lopunny Gijinka from last night. Charon looked up at the judges stand.
"Are you ready?"
"I hope so."
"On the count of three, the battle will begin!
"Three!"
Charon shifted his hat and looked at a series of jutting pillars by the side of the stadium.
"Two!"
Jovi began bouncing on the spot.
"One!"
Everyone tensed.
"Fight!"
Charon threw himself down onto the ground, barely avoiding a bolt of electricity from one of the pillars. Leo launched himself at Jovi, catching the small girl in a critical Crunch. Poppin leapt up into the air, spinning as she went. Charon rolled over onto his back and coughed into his hand once, before spitting fire at Poppin as she came. Unable to dodge properly, she took the flame, which clung to her back. Jovi pulled herself out of Leo's grasp and stepped back, beginning an awkward dance. The rain started.
Charon watched the flame on his brazier dampen down as he pulled himself up, stepping back from Poppin's impact area. He frowned and began his own dance, sending the clouds away and amplifying the sun on the group's heads. His brazier picked up again.
Poppin smacked onto the ground, catching a huge shock from Leo's Discharge, which hit Jovi at the same time. Jovi started clapping, and Leo bowed.
"Always happy to show it again."
Charon laughed and threw a ball of goo at Jovi, splattering it on the floor next to her. Leo leapt back, sparking again with another Discharge, shocking both of his opponents. Poppin threw a ball of black energy at Charon's back, sending him flying, as Jovi tapped Leo with a light spark of her own, barely distracting him.
Charon chucked another ball at Jovi, this one slamming into her chest as she touched Leo. The Luxray Gijinka let loose another Discharge burst before hitting himself on the head and grimacing, watching Poppin throw another black ball at him, which he sidestepped so it caught Jovi instead. Jovi yelped and smashed hard into Leo's back, sending both of them flying. Jovi groaned from where she was on the floor.
Seizing the chance, a misty black aura surrounded Jovi at Charon's command, making her scream before she finally collapsed. Leo pulled himself up, only to watch Poppin hit Charon with another Shadow Ball and the smaller boy hit the ground.
Leo panted as he got up, sending a sudden wave of energy at Poppin. The Lopunny girl was still distracted, so as the Hyper Beam hit her she took the full damage. She stumbled forwards and collapsed, leaving an exhausted Leo the only person still conscious.
"The battle has a clear winner! One cool cat indeed, Leo and Charon win their first bout!"
"Hit him into the air!"
"Hah!"
Breeze and her Steelix had been practicing for a while. Her battle partner, Orson, had come in partway through, and it had been his idea to fight against each-other to learn their moves. Orson signalled for a time out.
"Wow, you're good."
"STEEL!"
"I think he can deal with most things. Are you both OK?"
"Nothing a good meal and a bit of rest won't handle." Orson replied confidently. Steelix nodded.
"Alright then, let's go get something to eat."
Orson nodded. "If we get the chance, I would like to go back to my room to leave a note for my sister."
"Sure! You do that and meet me at the main entrance."
Orson nodded and ran out the door, leaving the trainer to herself.
Orson himself was pale skinned with a tall red Mohawk and eyes to match. His elbows had the beginnings of the sharp blades that all Gallade had, with only three fingers, and he wore white trousers and shoes with a red shirt and green hoodie. He'd had his fashion sense questioned before, but like all Gijinka he had a slight urge to dress in clothes that made him look like his Pokemon. His sister was called Anastasia, a Frosslass Gijinka, but they were close despite it, and their room sharing was just further proof of that.
As he opened the door he noticed a note from her on the table. Apparently she'd gone into the town, but he still scribbled down his own note just in case, before running out to the main entrance. A larger group greeted him – Breeze, along with Charon and Leo with two other fighters. He waved to get Breeze's attention.
"You made it!"
"I wasn't too long, was I?"
"Of course not! It's only one anyway. So where do we go?"
"Let's go to the Big House! I haven't been to the Big House in ages!" Charon exclaimed. Breeze rolled her eyes.
"We always go to the Big House. We went last week."
"Because it's awesome and we get a discount."
"He makes a convincing argument! Let's go" Jordan began walking off, only for Charon to run ahead and take step in front of her. Leo nudged Breeze.
"I'm confused, if he acted so serious during the fight, how can he be like this the rest of the time?"
Jack sighed and patted Leo on the back. "Come on, everyone knows that battling is serious business."