Disclaimer: The same as before. Maecenas, Mycroft, and the plot are mine. But nothing else. Unless you count a lot of frozen pizzas, some country music CDs, a pretty large Pokemon merchandise collection…you get the idea.

"Welcome to Pokѐtopia Airlines, and thank you for choosing to fly with us today. A special welcome to the tournament competitors on board, and good luck to all of you! We have now reached our cruising altitude of approximately ten thousand feet and should reach Pokѐtopia Island within an hour. We invite you to sit back, relax and enjoy the flight!"

Brilliant blue skies and wispy clouds that refracted the sunlight into countless rainbows flew past as the jet soared through the air. There were an unusual number of teenagers on board, many of them looking excited and a bit impatient, for-as the flight attendant had explained-this was the day the entrants of the tournament would be traveling to Pokѐtopia.

Xavier, whose Flygon had only taken him as far as the airport, leaned back contentedly in his chair, listening to his headphones as always-he'd tuned them in to the floaty jazz music provided by the airline-and leafing through the in-flight catalog, underlining things he'd buy-or get his friends to buy for him-later. His Ninjask was perched on his shoulder, looking out of the window and basking in the sun, and Xavier would occasionally toss it a honey-roasted almond from the bag of mixed nuts he'd been given.

Next to him, Luce Delaray wasn't in as good a mood. Though she'd gotten swept up in her Pokémon's enthusiasm for the tournament over the past few days, she couldn't help getting second thoughts about the whole thing about every fifteen minutes. Being on this cramped, noisy plane stuck next to a kid who'd been listening to loud music on his headphones the whole time hadn't helped either.

Luce had noticed a strategic battle channel on the list of entertainment options in the in-flight magazine earlier, and now she thought of it and sighed. She might as well do something useful to pass the time, she told herself, pulling the plane headphones from the seat pocket in front of her (Xavier had glanced once at his pair, snorted, and immediately plugged his own headphones, which were roughly five times larger and much sturdier, into the port on his armrest).

Luce began fiddling with the TV that was mounted above her, instantly beginning to sweat as the screen resolutely displayed nothing but static. Suddenly she remembered how even the slightest interaction with technology would inevitably end in disaster for her. Judging from the surprised shouts of the other passengers as all of their TVs simultaneously shorted out, they wished that she would have remembered earlier as well.

Luce blushed with embarrassment as an acidic smoke from the damaged appliances filled the air. Perhaps she'd be safer just looking out the window, she decided, and turned around to find Xavier staring at her with an unnerved expression.

"Do me one favor, okay?" he asked, hastily unplugging his headphones from the armrest.

Luce sighed. "What?"

"Don't adjust your seat angle or anything until we land, all right? You'd probably end up shutting the whole plane down!"

Ordinarily Luce would have responded angrily to a statement like this, but she said nothing. It had occurred to her that Xavier was probably right.

***

About half an hour later, the "Fasten Seatbelt" signs-fortunately, they had been unaffected by the mishap with the TVs-blinked off, much to the delight of the nineteen-year-old girl seated at the front of the plane.

"All right!" shouted Savannah Hart, jumping up from her seat and throwing her Granbull's Pokѐball onto the carpeted floor of the aisle. The purple canine Pokemon appeared in a flash of light and stretched, yawning.

Savannah tossed it a microphone from a pocket of her jeans. "Come on, we have a lot of Trainers to interview. We'll be landing in half an hour!"

At this the Granbull perked up, and it eagerly ran after the teenage reporter, both of them with one mission: to have a great story landed before the plane did.

***

"Hi! My name is Sevvy Hart and I'm a reporter covering the Pokѐtopia Tournament for Goldenrod Radio. Would you mind answering a few questions for me?"

Alexandria "Alex" De la Roche looked up from the book she was reading, The Legends of Johto, in surprise. She was a short and rather thin girl with a gentle face and shoulder-length black hair who was dressed mainly in a plain black ensemble: a black beret, dark jeans, a black tank top, fingerless gloves and square glasses, as well as a pair of light green sandals. A chain with five Pokeballs on it was attached to her jeans, and she held a young Chinchou in her arms.

Although she was more of a breeder than a Pokemon trainer, Alex had fought in several tournaments before this, and had come into contact with far too many annoying reporters for her liking. Now she was being asked for an interview before even getting there-where would it all end?

She looked Sevvy up and down. Short brown hair, dressed in pink and white, friendly smile-she didn't look so bad. Alex supposed that an interview wouldn't hurt.

"Okay, what did you want to know?" she asked. Sevvy brightened, and the Granbull next to her held out its microphone.

"Oh, just a few quick questions, thanks. First of all, what made you decide to enter the tournament?"

Alex smiled. "Well, I'm a Pokemon breeder by trade-I work with my older brother Isaiah-but I've entered a few tournaments in the past and had fun, and don't think you should underestimate me, either-I might be a Pokemon breeder, but I have a competent team of Pokemon that's been with me for a long time. They're all really excited to be going to the tournament-aiigh!"

At this her Chinchou had playfully let out a blast of electricity and zapped her. An acrid, ozone-y smell filled the air, and dissipated in a few seconds to show a frazzled-looking Alex, her glasses askew and her hair fluffed up by the static charge. Sevvy looked startled, but Alex laughed, albeit a little unsteadily.

"You see what I mean? My Chinchou here is sort of a fan of practical jokes, as well. Sadly, I haven't been able to get through to him to stop doing this kind of thing….he's a tougher battler than he looks, though."
Sevvy grinned. "Could you tell me a bit about your past accomplishments?"

"Well, I've helped Izzy, my brother, run the Day Care for a few years, I placed first in the Hoenn League a while back, entered the Grand Festival in Hoenn and wound up a semifinalist, got the seashell badges from the Orange Islands, and competed in the Johto League."

"Wow, that's impressive!" commented Sevvy, looking genuinely amazed. "No one should underestimate you in this competition, I'm sure! One last question: what was your favorite memory as a Trainer?"

Alex was about to respond when she caught the eye of the passenger sitting next to a dark-haired boy dressed in green. It was a Scizor.

Alex's blood froze as the giant, predatory insect rubbed its claws together, not looking at her. For a few moments she was immobilized, until she heard someone calling her.

"Alex, are you all right?" asked Sevvy. Alex came out of her reverie, shuddered, and touched the small, faint scar below her right eye. Scizor stirred up painful memories for her.

She shook her head, determined to put the incident out of her mind, and turned back to the reporter.

"It was probably at the day care center last year when a Togepi hatched in my hands. It was adorable!"

Sevvy thanked Alex and moved on, her Granbull trailing her.

***

"Hi! My name is Sevvy Hart and I'm a reporter covering the Pokѐtopia Tournament for Goldenrod Radio. Would you mind"-

Savannah's usual opening spiel was cut off by Kane Yaiba, who adopted the flirty expression that had made him infamous and said smoothly, albeit in a ridiculously melodramatic voice, "For you I'd be happy to do anything, my dear. Dredge my deepest past, my darkest histories! They're all yours and I couldn't think of anyone more charming to give them to than you."

Sevvy blushed, confused and a little unnerved. "Well…I….um…"

From the row of seats behind them, a tall, blonde teen dressed in an orange-and-white striped shirt and green scarf leaned forward. "Don't mind Kane, he does this to everyone. I'll admit it's a little creepy, but you get used to it," he drawled. "We were both at the Lilycove Tournament-I'm Markus Pearl."

"Hi, Markus!" said Sevvy enthusiastically, glad of a chance to change the subject. "So, are you all excited for the tournament?"

"Hang on a second," Kane interrupted. "We're starting to descend!"

True to his words, the plane dipped, and all of the Trainers aboard dashed to the windows. Gasps filled the air as they saw the incredible sight before them.

***

Clear, cerulean ocean water rushed past each side of the small, bright white boat as it sped toward Pokѐtopia. Mycroft Williamson sat on the deck, reading the last few pages of The Legends of Johto and sipping a tall glass of Razz Berry lemonade, enjoying the feel of the salt air on his face.

Within a few minutes, Mycroft had finished his book and taken out a sleek laptop computer, emblazoned with the purple flame-like design of the decorations on his suit jacket. He entered an online forum of which he was a member and joined a discussion on advanced Pokemon-training methods.

Suddenly a crash shattered the peaceful air, and the boat's engine abruptly cut off. Mycroft looked up in surprise to see the captain of the ship-by default, as he was the only sailor there-run out on the deck, looking worried.

"We ran straight into a gang of Sharpedo!" the tanned, burly sailor bellowed. "The Bully of the Sea, and they're not in a good mood. We're in for some trouble, all right!" Mycroft looked down into the water and saw that it was already beginning to churn with enraged Sharpedo, who were snapping their razor-sharp teeth with abandon and slamming into the hull of the boat.

"I'll handle this." Mycroft stood up and snatched the Pokѐball that contained his Electivire, Watson, off of his belt, preparing for a fight.

Before he could do anything, though, a bright blue ball of energy crackling with indigo flames streaked down toward the water, apparently from out of nowhere, and exploded beneath the surface, kicking up a huge jet of spray and scattering the shark-like Pokemon everywhere. Mycroft looked up in surprise to see a shiny Togekiss flying overhead, launching more Aura Spheres towards the Sharpedo as he watched. The rest of the Sharpedo swarm quickly gave up and darted off into the underwater darkness, intent on putting as much distance as possible between themselves and the powerful attacks raining down on them.

Mycroft, who thought he'd recognized the Togekiss, turned to find his suspicions confirmed. Without his noticing it, another boat had pulled up alongside his own. Standing on the deck was the Togekiss' Trainer: a tall, pretty girl with long brown hair in a light blue headband, which matched the rest of her outfit. She wore a confident expression.

"Good job, White," said Allesandra Cesarini-known to her friends as Alex-recalling her Pokemon with a perky grin. "We left those pesky Sharpedo in our dust, didn't we?"

"Hello, Alex," called Mycroft. The girl turned, noticing him for the first time.

"Oh, hey! Mycroft! Good to see you again!" Alex's boat had stopped as well, and now she vaulted over the railing, landing neatly on the deck of Mycroft's boat. The two shook hands.

"So, Mycroft-hey, can I call you Mike?"

Mycroft winced, a single bead of sweat dropping from his face. "Let's just go with a 'no' on that one." This had, he remembered, not been the first time Alex had tried to give someone a nickname with disastrous results.

Alex interrupted him. "Hang on, the Sharpedo are coming back!"

"I've got this one." Mycroft turned to the spot where the shark Pokemon were making a somewhat halfhearted second attack on the two boats and released his Electivire. Watson appeared in a blaze of light and launched an unbelievably powerful blast of electricity from its two tails. The Sharpedo, all of them now very fried, made a quick exit. Mycroft gave his Pokemon a congratulatory pat on the back and recalled it.

Alex, meanwhile, was unfazed.

"So anyway, you're entering the tournament in Pokѐtopia too?" she continued.

"I am indeed." Mycroft returned to his deck chair and picked up his neglected glass of lemonade, motioning for Alex to join him. "I received my invitation last week, as a matter of fact. Although the Lilycove Tournament wouldn't normally seem to encourage me to enter another competition anytime soon"-Alex, who had spent two weeks of the tournament trapped in a time machine, nodded feelingly-"But I've been to Pokѐtopia often before-incredible place, really-many of my old friends and rivals will be attending, and besides"-he indicated his outfit, which was still crusted with salt and sand from his Lugia encounter-"my tailor is in Pokѐtopia, and it goes without saying that I could use a new suit."

Alex nodded. "I heard that a bunch of our old friends from Lilycove are going to be there-not my old battle partner, thank goodness"-

"But you two seemed to be getting on so well together," Mycroft commented, with a half smile.

Alex laughed. "I'm not sure if that's what you'd call it. By the way, I never apologized for beating you in that tag battle…"

"It was nothing, you shouldn't blame yourself," said Mycroft, waving off the apology airily. "I'll admit that I don't look forward to seeing the giant Pachirisu float at Main Street Colosseum, though. So, anyway, I presume that Markus will be going as well, since you are?"

Alex colored slightly at the mention of her boyfriend. "He will be-he's flying in. The jet is supposed to get to Pokѐtopia right when we do."

"On that note, would yeh get back 'ere so's we can get goin' already?" the captain of Alex's boat interrupted. "I ain't gettin' any younger just sittin' 'ere waitin' for yeh!"

"Sorry, be right there." Alex turned back to Mycroft. "I'll see you at the tournament, then!"

Mycroft nodded and waved as Alex jumped back onto her boat and it sped away. He turned around to find his own captain standing in the doorway, tapping a foot on the deck.

"I do hope you're paying me by the hour," he said.

Mycroft laughed. "I suppose the little conversational pleasantries do get in the way of our getting there, don't they? My apologies. I'll reimburse you for your trouble. Now, shall we proceed?"

The man merely nodded and disappeared back onto the bridge. Within a few seconds, the boat sputtered to life and sped off.

A few minutes later, Pokѐtopia appeared on the horizon just as a beautiful sunset was beginning to color the sky and the earliest stars appear in the region where the brilliant orange clouds melted into the darkness of the approaching night. Mycroft couldn't resist a gasp-no matter how many times he'd seen it, the waterfront of Pokѐtopia was always breathtaking. Quickly, he released all of his Pokemon together and the whole team stood on the deck as the boat sailed into the harbor.

Mycroft noticed a jet flying overhead-the rest of the contestants were arriving. This tournament already looked like it was shaping up to be more exciting than he could possibly have imagined.

***

On the jet, meanwhile, everyone was still crowded around the windows, taking in the dazzling sight of the quickly approaching Pokѐtopia skyline. Searchlights cut through the air, helicopters buzzed past, and countless lights twinkled from the vast city, but what stood out more than anything were the dazzling Pokemon towers that soared above the water. Three adjacent buildings were designed to look like Turtwig, Chimchar, and Piplup. A gigantic, lit-up Toxicroak statue held an entire office building in one claw. A Dusclops building glittered with dazzling points of light from its many windows, its one red eye seeming to gaze up at the plane. And a Lickilicky stuck out its tongue, forming an escalator that led to the most magnificent building of all-a gigantic spire topped with the Pokѐtopia logo of a winged "P."

Everyone gasped, oohed, and ahhed. It was just too much to take in. As if on cue, guitar chords rocketed onto the plane's audio system, followed by the famous voice of Pokѐtopia's battle announcer.

"Welcome to the land of awe-inspiring sights, the red-hot passion of battle and challenges unlike any you've ever faced before! This…is Pokѐtopia!"

Xavier raised an eyebrow, grinning. "Just your regular old backwoods tournament spot, eh?"

But even he couldn't maintain his sarcastic façade for long. "Oh, this is just too cool!"

The plane descended in a graceful arc and touched down right in front of the skyline. The passengers could see a huge cruise ship beginning to disgorge its inhabitants and countless individual boats and water Pokemon bearing their trainers to the island. The heroes had gathered.

***

Mycroft milled around the dock area with the thousands of other Trainers who had recently disembarked, calling out a greeting for the occasional appearance of a previous acquaintance. He had watched Alex and Markus' joyful reunion with amusement a few minutes ago. Now the only person he had yet to see was…

A tan, sandy-haired Trainer in a light brown T-shirt, black ski cap, and blue-and-white patterned pants ran up to him. "Hey! Mycroft!"

"Maecenas-good to see you again," said Mycroft, shaking the hand of his old traveling companion. "You're looking well."

The two chatted for a while, each catching up on what the other had been doing lately, and slowly moved toward the Lickilicky Escalator with the rest of the Trainers.

"I must say I've always thought that it was a little disgusting getting into Pokѐtopia this way-it's like getting swallowed," commented Maecenas with a shudder. "Still, I guess—hang on, something isn't right here."

"What"-Mycroft suddenly saw it too: instead of the escalator itself, they were looking at an actual Lickilicky, which had positioned itself right in front of their view of its larger counterpart.

"AAAAGH!" the two cried together as the Pokemon extended its gigantic tongue and gave them a lick of greeting, dousing both of them in saliva.

Mycroft turned, already knowing what he would see: a blonde Trainer dressed in a train wreck of bright, clashing colors, giving him a goofy grin.

"Hello, Ferk," he said warily.

Hey all, it's Maecenas here! Well, that was a long chapter. Hope you're all still awake. I considered splitting it into two parts, but there is the unifying theme of all the Trainers' journey to Pokѐtopia. Consider it my way of making up for the long time between uploads. The infamous banquet scene will be next, and all characters I've received will get at least a cameo!

Here are my character credits:

Mycroft and Maecenas-Yours Truly

Luce and

Alex (De La Roche)-nellchan0013

Xavier-LastPrelude

Alex (Cesarini) and Markus-Legendary Fairy

Kane-KK the Prophet

Ferk-SilentlySnowing

Also thanks to suvi-sisko or JellyBrain, since I made a vague reference to Zailia (I didn't want to push it any more).

Thanks to all my readers and reviewers as usual. Oh, I almost forgot to mention, there's going to be a slight change of rules. In order to comply with the FanFiction administration, I would prefer for OC's to be submitted in the future by PM exclusively. Thanks.

I get the feeling no one really wants to read Maecenas' full bio right now-and I haven't written it yet anyway-so I'll do that later.

Maecenas out.