Chapter 2:

The hotel grounds are quiet at half past six in the morning. All of the sounds are distant noises from the outside world. Most of the guests are still asleep. I'm not. I wasn't asleep to begin with. I am sat on the floor outside with my back against the wall watching the sun slowly climb over the city skyline. It isn't what I planned to be doing at this time in the morning. It's just what ended up happening. I couldn't stay cooped up in my room all night when I couldn't sleep.

"What's a pretty lady like you doing moping around out here?" someone asks.

I look up to see a large man with tanned skin jogging along the path in my direction. He has very short brown hair and is dressed for his morning jog in a pair of tracksuit bottoms and trainers. I struggle to look at him properly though as, combined with the sunrise, his orange jacket is a bit bright for my tired eyes. He slows down as he reaches me and jogs on the spot.

"Can't sleep," I say. He laughs a little.

"Excited?" he asks. I can vaguely remember him from the night before. He is another of the competitors.

"A bit," I say, "Nervous, worried, morally conflicted."

"Ha, what's there to be conflicted about unless you're thinking of attacking the other trainer?" he laughs and then his demeanour lowers slightly as he looks down on me, "You're not thinking of attacking your opponent, are you?"

"No, most certainly not," I protest and the man sighs in relief.

"Out with it then," he says.

"Well…" I begin hesitantly, "It's just I have to face one of the few people I've actually talked to and it seems like he thinks I'm a friend. I know there's probably only five or six years between us, but he seems like he's just a kid. I don't know if I can go all out against him, I'm scared I'd ruin everything for him, you know?"

"Well you don't exactly look like you're gonna be really tough either," the man says.

"Huh?" I suddenly look up at the man again, feeling rather offended.

"Kid's here for a reason, if you wanna win then you've gotta beat him," he says.

The man has redeemed himself. He has alleviated one of my concerns. My mind is still a complete mess ahead of my battle though. I'm excited, I want that adrenaline rush from battling. I'm terrified, all the anticipation and attention will be focused on my battle since I'm up first. It's a global stage broadcast across the world. I've never competed in anything like this before.

"You alright?" the man asks.

I suddenly sit bolt upright and blink. My head had been dropping.

"Tired," I say.

"Come on, not gonna have you fall asleep out here," he says and holds out a hand.

I reach out to take his hand and he pulls me up, seemingly with ease. I stagger slightly and have to grab him for support. I blush slightly as I feel the muscles in his arm. I want to collapse onto him and let him carry me away but know better. It is tempting though. I am in no fit state to be battling. Even though I had a nap the previous evening, my lack of sleep is catching up with me and it will be worse by the time I reach the stadium.

"I'm Shaw Weston, by the way," the man says as he begins to lead me back to the hotel.

"Holly Wexler," I say.

Shaw says something else, but I am too focused on trying to walk. For some reason, I feel like I'm drunk. By the time we make it back to the hotel's entrance, I am feeling better on my feet. Shaw asks if I am going to be alright. I say I am, not actually knowing if I will be or not, and he returns to his morning exercise.

I return to my room. I am tired and want to rest, but it is too late now. I set an alarm to be sure. Using what is provided by the hotel, I make myself some coffee and try to prepare myself for my battle. The first round is a three on three single battle. Sadly, I don't know any of Elin's team in advance so have to make vague preparations. I can at least consider possible line ups that best prepare for all eventualities. I jot a few possibilities down to memorise them. I take solace from the fact that even if I won't be in the best condition for the battle, my Pokémon are well rested.

The time to leave arrives and I double check I have everything. My Battle Gear is strapped tightly to my left wrist, my six Poké Balls are firmly attached to my belt and my notes are tucked away in my pocket. With everything in check, I return to the entrance hall. There is a small group of familiar faces waiting. Not everyone is there yet. Elin is the notable face missing. Although I don't know any of these people by name, they are at least recognisable from the previous evening.

The scruffy man who asked about the bar the previous night is now sat on a chair clutching his head. I imagine he found the bar and had a bit too much to drink. I'm surprised that someone looks to be in a worse state than me.

I look around a bit more and see the dark haired man standing away from the rest of the group again. I walk over to him, wondering why he's always on his own. The tall man glares at me with emerald eyes. He's not impressed to see me approach.

"Hey," I say, a touch unnerved by how he's looking at me.

He does not respond. He stands leaning against the wall with his arms folded and looks at me like I've insulted him.

"Uh, sorry," I say, "I was just wondering why you're always on your own."

The man grunts and then grabs his hood, pulling it over his black hair and leaving just the blue highlighted fringe visible. He immediately walks off. I am left to hold my arms out in despair as I am completely blanked after an attempt to be friendly.

"Daedalus Marlowe," a voice says, "Not the most social of creatures, but that's not what you have to be concerned about. As I understand it, he's not bad when it comes to battling."

I turn around to see a tall young man with crimson red hair walking towards me. He is looking across the hall at the man who had blanked me to indicate that is who he refers to. He looks from Daedalus back to me and offers a handshake. I take it.

"Don't worry Miss Wexler, I won't keep you long. I know Elin is on his way and you two have matters at hand. I am just here to introduce myself. I am Mark Young," he says, "I'm not here to battle today as I'm in the other half of the bracket but it can't hurt to scout the competition."

"Nice to meet you," I say politely.

Without another word, Mark walks off again. I watch as he mingles into another group of competitors. Then, just as Mark said, Elin turns up.

"So, are you ready for our battle?" Elin asks.

"Yeah," I reply. I'm as ready as I can be.

It's strange. We are about to battle it out for a place in the quarter finals of a global tournament, yet we are stood together chatting. Elin is making me feel at ease and I can't determine whether he's genuinely being friendly or if this is part of some elaborate mind game. I know I can't relax too much either way. I don't want to start drifting off.

It is not long until Raymond shows up again to escort those of us who have turned up to our bus. The journey is only a few minutes long thankfully. We arrive and file off the bus to come face to face with the stadium we would be competing in. I unintentionally stop to take it all in. I look on in awe at the arena that can compete with the biggest stadiums in the world. An upturned dome of iron stands before me. Massive crowds are gathered all around us. Barriers are in place to separate us from screaming fans. I have no idea how we have gained so much support. Quickly, I regain control of myself and rush on into the waiting doors of the stadium.

"This is not going to help my hangover," the scruffy man groans as we gather inside.

We are then led through some corridors to something half way between a changing room and a waiting room. Couches surround a coffee table in the middle of the room and a widescreen television hangs on the wall above the table. There are cubicles around the side of the room and two other doors to the one we entered. One leads to a group bathroom and the other out to the arena.

We are left to settle down and prepare ourselves. I don't do much settling. I will be first out of here so there is no point in getting comfortable. The television has been turned on and is now showing the tournament's coverage on a Unovan channel. It seems that Elin is from Unova as the pundits are sounding rather bias in his favour. I notice that only the eight of us competing today are in this room. Mark has disappeared off to somewhere else, I assume he's now in the stands to watch.

There is a short opening ceremony and Lancelot Elderidge says a few words. I don't pay much attention. I can probably make a good guess at what he's saying. It's usually the same old drivel at these tournaments trying to hype up how prestigious the whole thing is and that the crowd would be entertained by the finest trainers, in this case, in the world. I'm too busy trying to keep myself awake. Either I'm focusing so much on it or I'm doing a bad job of it as it takes a moment for Raymond to get my attention. It is time.

Elin and I exit the room through the door and enter a long tunnel. We can see the bright light of the outside world and hear the distant cheers of the crowd. We stand next to each other where we are told and wait for our cue.

"Ladies and gentlemen," the announcer declares, "The first battle of the Elder World Championships is about to begin. So, please give it up for Elin Reynold and Holly Wexler!"

I take a deep breath and step forward. When we emerge from the tunnel, the noise hits me like a wave crashing over me. Suddenly the cheering is all I can focus on. I have competed before, but never in anything like this. I can't begin to comprehend just how many people there are here. I look around, trying to come to terms with the atmosphere. Every seat is filled. People stand and wave. I even notice a couple of banners with my name on. There are people here to support me, people who want me to win. I am overpowered by the emotion of it all. I never expected that being a Pokémon trainer could lead to anything like this. I wave to the crowd with one hand and wipe away a tear with the other. Then I make my way to the designated area at the end of the battlefield.

I stand opposite Elin and try to drown out the noise all around me. I have to focus on Elin now, not as a friend or as some kid but as an opponent.

"Trainers, activate your Battle Gears," a referee I notice to the side of the battlefield orders.

This is even more unfamiliar territory. I raise my arm and turn on my Battle Gear. Choosing the three to battle when both of us know the opponent's team is new to me. The notes in my pocket are probably now useless. We each tap the Battle button and nod to the referee.

"Trainers, select your three Pokémon," the referee says.

Decision time. I look at Elin's team: Serperior, Sawk, Palpitoad, Tyrantrum, Sylveon and Gliscor. A Palpitoad? Am I definitely seeing that right? It doesn't make the team look any less threatening though. I instantly know one of my picks. The other two are a little more difficult. I don't tap the selection just yet, I have to figure out the right order. Which do I start off with? I make a quick guess and tap my three choices.

"Begin!"

"Go, Milotic!" I say and send out my first choice, the beautiful serpentine Pokémon.

"Go, Palpitoad," Elin says as he throws his first Poké Ball. Out comes what appears to be his surprise package.

"Palpitoad, really?" I can't help but ask.

"He doesn't want to evolve, who am I to force it on him?" Elin says back. We can only just hear each other over the noise of the crowd. We will have to be shouting commands to make sure our Pokémon act.

I don't like this match up at all. A straight fight between Milotic and Palpitoad could take a while and I have no way of knowing if Milotic would be able to triumph, even if Palpitoad isn't fully evolved. I have to switch. Even if it forces me to reveal a good portion of my selection so early, it will put me at an advantage or force him to do the same.

"Milotic return," I call out and hold out my Poké Ball. "Go, Gourgeist!"

Elin flinches at the sight of my second Pokémon. He chooses not to switch at this point, giving me hints as to what else he has selected.

"Palpitoad, use Toxic," Elin calls out.

Palpitoad's mouth opens wide and purple sludge shoots out. Gourgeist, being one of the bigger variations of its species, is unable to move out of the way. The sludge coats Gourgeist and it lets out a whine as it seeps into the pumpkin Pokémon, infecting it with poison. I know about the tactics of poison all too well. Having them used against me is going to be devastating.

"Gourgeist, Leech Seed," I order.

"Mud Bomb," Elin counters.

Gourgeist's mouth creaks open further and seeds are fired out in Palpitoad's direction. Palpitoad attacks in a similar way, spitting out a large glob of mud. The two attacks collide, but Palpitoad's easily overpowers the Leech Seed. The seeds are coated in mud and fall harmlessly on the battlefield. The rest of the mud continues on and splatters over Gourgeist.

The bar on my Battle Gear doesn't move much. The attack didn't really hurt Gourgeist, but the real damage is much worse. Gourgeist is now covered in mud. The mud obscures its vision and is dripping into its mouth. The Battle Gear doesn't take this sort of thing into account and probably still thinks I have a chance. But I know the truth. My hopes are fading fast. Elin's Palpitoad has done just its job and caught me off guard.

AN: Forgot to give credit to the OCs' creators last chapter so I'll list the 8 and who submitted even though they haven't all featured properly yet.

Robin Harper - SDproductions

Elin Reynold - OPFan37

Shaw Weston - Barrett M107

Daedalus Marlowe - SentientPixel

Mark Young - Kevinboy1008

Flourette Lauxand - visceraEffect

Thomas Byrne - Gazooki

Rhianne Barrestein - TissueMonster

Thanks again to all of you for submitting and hope you enjoy the story.