Oh, wow. I recently started a new game of Explorers of Time, and I had forgotten the extent of Chatot's idiocy. He thought you just fell in the dimensional hole by accident? Really?
Disclaimer: -insert standard disclaimer here-
10. Protein
"Explain to me what this is all about?" Kevin asked.
"I told you!" Bolt snapped, fairly annoyed. "It's the Tournament!"
"But what's the Tournament?"
Bolt rolled his eyes. They were standing at the edge of Treasure Town watching as some Machoke set up a stage. Bolt had known about the Tournament for his whole life, but clearly no one had bothered to tell Kevin about it.
"It's a tradition," Bolt explained as patiently as he could. "Every year the strongest Pokémon from all over gather in one area. They're paired up randomly for battles. The winners of those battles then fight each other, until there are only two left. Those two then battle for the top place. The winner gets prize money, a medal, and lots of fame and glory. It's a big deal for us because the Tournament hasn't been in Treasure Town for a long time."
Kevin thought for a moment. "So basically the Tournament is a series of sudden-death elimination matches?"
"Yeah, we got the idea from humans. You were human; don't you know about humans training Pokémon?"
"I'm an amnesiac from the damn future of darkness... how am I supposed to know about this crap?"
"Just saying." Bolt shrugged.
As the week passed, the guild was having a harder and harder time focusing on work. Construction for the Tournament was loud and highly visible; it was hard to keep your mind off of it. What was even more distracting were the Pokémon who were constantly showing up to fight. Dozens of famous and strong Pokémon could be seen standing around Treasure Town, perfectly willing to chat with the residents. The apprentices couldn't pass up the chance to gawk at celebrities.
"Oh my GO-O-O-OSH!" Sunflora screamed one day. "Gallade from Team Raider is here!" Naturally, everyone ran out to meet him. It took some time for Chatot to make everyone go back to work.
The next day, Sunflora exclaimed, "Lopunny from Team Charm is here!" Once again, Chatot had to struggle to keep order.
After a couple of weeks of this scene replaying, the preparations were finally complete. The stages were built and heavily supported (they had several spares in case a stage was destroyed in a battle, but the Tournament committee preferred to try and keep each stage usable for as long as possible) and all the stands for spectators were constructed. It was time for the Tournament to commence!
"Wow!" Kevin said, impressed. "There sure are a lot of strong Pokémon here."
Bolt nodded excitedly. The two friends were standing in a crowd that was waiting to watch the first match. "I've never seen a Tournament before!" Bolt admitted. "I've always wanted to, but I never got the chance. This is awesome!"
"ATTENTION, POKÉMON!" a booming voice shouted. Everyone turned to look at the platform hanging over the stage. An Exploud from the Tournament committee was standing there to make announcements. "WELCOME TO THE FORTY-SIXTH ANNUAL TOURNAMENT! REFRESHMENTS HAVE BEEN GRACIOUSLY PROVIDED BY THE KECLEON SHOP FRANCHISE!" The green Kecleon brother, standing at the mini-stand that had been set up for the Tournament, smiled and bowed. No one paid any attention to him as Exploud continued. "OUR FIRST MATCH IS METAGROSS VERSUS RHYPERIOR!"
The crowd cheered wildly as Metagross and Rhyperior took positions at opposite ends of the stage. For several moments, they did nothing but stare at each other. Kevin was just starting to fidget impatiently when they suddenly charged. Rhyperior began shooting Rock Blast at Metagross with frightening power. Metagross smashed its way through the rocks with Bullet Punch and managed to land a blow on Rhyperior's head. Rhyperior retaliated with Mega Horn. Metagross managed to dodge and proceeded with Agility. Unperturbed, Rhyperior used Rock Polish and leaped towards Metagross at lightning speed.
"Can you see what's happening?" Kevin asked. "I can't tell what's happening. They're going too fast."
"Shut up and watch," Bolt growled.
Rhyperior snarled and launched himself at Metagross. Metagross lifted up its leg and attacked with Meteor Mash. Rhyperior slammed into Metagross with a resounding crash as he used Rock Wrecker. The stage shook wildly from the impact and dust was thrown into the air. As the dust cloud settled, Metagross could be seen, out cold.
"AND THE WINNER IS RHYPERIOR!" Exploud shouted. The crowd screamed in excitement. Rhyperior simply stepped off of the stage without acknowledging them.
"That was insane!" Bolt told Kevin. "I can't imagine how strong their attacks are!"
Kevin frowned. "Kinda weird, though... Metagross used steel attacks, which are super effective against rock. Rhyperior used rock attacks, which shouldn't have been very effective."
Bolt groaned. "There's more to battles than types, Kevin... how many battles have we won with moves that weren't effective?"
"That's different... I would think that the best of the best would be about equal in strength... Rhyperior winning would be plausible if he used neutral moves and the battle had taken longer..."
"Oh, just watch the next match."
The next day, the guild didn't even bother with morning cheers. Everyone knew no work would be done for at least two weeks. As they settled into the stands with the rest of the crowd, Kevin looked up at the platform.
"Hey, look!" he cried as he pointed up. "Isn't that Officer Magnezone? What's he doing?"
"It looks to me like he's talking with Exploud," Bolt replied dryly.
"No duh! I meant, what's going on?"
"EXCUSE ME, EVERYONE!" Exploud shouted. "OFFICER MAGNEZONE HAS AN ANNOUNCEMENT TO MAKE!" The crowd quieted down as Magnezone took its place in the middle of the platform.
"ZZT! Yesterday's match between Metagross and Rhyperior..." Magnezone began, "... was found to be unfair! ZZT!" As the crowd gasped, it continued, "The committee has asked for nightly examinations of the participating battlers' quarters. So we check to make sure there is nothing shady going on. ZZT! Last night we discovered needles and small containers of Protein in Rhyperior's quarters, including several empty ones! As you know, performance-enhancing drugs are strictly forbidden in the Tournament. Rhyperior has been disqualified. ZZT!" With that, Magnezone left the platform.
"I knew it!" Kevin screamed. "I knew that Rhyperior won too quickly and easily!"
Bolt shook his head. "Jeez, why would anyone want to shoot himself up anyway?"
Kevin groaned. "Where's the fun in a game if you can't deserve your win? All you do when you cheat is say, 'Hey, I'm not skilled enough to win without unfair advantages!' Seriously, pathetic."
I may write another fic about the Tournament... should I?
