With technical difficulties proving to be more taxing for the announcer than at first thought, we were essentially just left to fend for ourselves until everything was sorted out. Trying to ignore Selphie's various complaints about being bored, I twisted my body around to see if I could notice any of my travelling party, or any of the various people I had met over the course of the day. To my astonishment, my eyes did indeed touch on a familiar face standing at only the next desk over.

"Melinda?"

The girl's skinny figure jumped as soon as her name was said, and she turned around to face me, her cobalt eyes widening. She stood there for a moment, and I caught sight of a flash of panic appear on her face, as if she was visibly struggling to remember my name. However, after a prolonged moment of awkwardness, a relieved look took hold of her and even a little smile appeared on her face. "Sienna!" she then stopped. "Right…?" she added uncertainly.

I had to laugh. "Yeah, that's me." I grinned, taking a step forward towards her. "You made it then, huh, Melinda?"

"Y-yeah! Just about," she nodded.

"Good," I smiled. "Just two more to get through… And then the battling rounds!"

While Melinda smiled and even looked a little excited at the prospect, it was quickly short-lived as a bossy commanding voice suddenly rang out.

"It's not gonna be as easy as that," Selphie cut in loudly, nothing more than a bright red blur suddenly invading my vision as she stepped towards us. "Only twenty of us are gonna make it to the final round. That means less than half of us."

Melinda looked a little downtrodden, but then, another explosion of colour suddenly permeated my peripheral vision as the girl who had been standing opposite Melinda suddenly emerged from behind the desk. I recognised her instantly as the girl all in blue, purple and green that I had seen at the beginning of the day. "B-but who's to say that we won't make it to the final twenty?" she asked quietly, her voice shaking a little.

I nodded vigorously. The girl, whoever she was, had an extremely valid point. There was every chance any of us could make it to the final twenty. We had as much chance as any person standing here right now. Once again, I nodded affirmatively towards the girl in blue, green and purple. "You're right," I said swiftly, my hopes once again somewhat raised.

Melinda nodded. "Yeah… I guess we've got about as much of a chance as anyone…"

At this point, Selphie, who up until now had been standing idly, her face slowly taking on a confused look, evidently could not hold onto her silence any longer. "Sorry, who are you?" she demanded of Melinda, her eyebrows furrowing together.

Melinda looked a little taken aback to be addressed so bluntly, but she cleared her throat and spoke confidently enough to the rather intimidating tomboy. "Melinda. Melinda Hughes. I, uh, I met Sienna earlier on. Are… are you a friend of hers?"

"No. We just met too," Selphie said, shooting me a strange look that could have met anything. I just smiled back uncertainly.

Evidently Melinda couldn't comprehend what was going on either, as she simply nodded and murmured something incomprehensible. Then there was a long silence. Eventually it was broken by the girl in blue, purple and green. She raised her hand and waved it around enthusiastically. "Umm, hi? I'm Hikaru Brown! You know, just in case anyone cares…"

Remembering my manners, I introduced myself, as did Selphie. Melinda and Hikaru were already on a first name basis, so the conversation dried up awkwardly quickly. However, I took advantage of this lull in conversation to mentally cycle through the motley collection of names and faces I had amassed throughout the day. As I finally straightened them all out in my head into some attempt of an order, I looked back up at the three girls and caught Hikaru's eye. As I did so, she adjusted her blue and green beanie hat over the locks of her dark brown hair, before clearing her throat and speaking up.

"How long do you think it'll take them to get set up?"

"Who knows…?" I mused, as the announcer began to wrestle with a long snake like cable, which he quickly hopelessly tangled himself up in. I grimaced. "Might be a long time by the look of him,"

"Not exactly the most competent of MCs, is he…?" Selphie asked snippily, leaning against the workstation, almost knocking over one of the unlabelled bottles in the process. She caught it effortlessly, before opening it and sniffing it experimentally.

"What even is this stuff…?" Melinda asked, while wrinkling her nose as the strong, surgical smell reached our nostrils, catching us at the back of our throats.

"I think it's the medicine we have to give the Rattata…" I said, frowning.

"But we can't tell which one is which!" Hikaru suddenly blurted out, her voice rising almost comically high in pitch.

"Call me psychic, but I think that's the point," Selphie grimaced, setting the bottle back on the table.

Melinda looked crushed at the suggestion, but Hikaru's face twisted into annoyance and she shook her fists up and down angrily, looking like she was fighting the urge to stamp her feet as well. "But that's not fair!" she cried, looking horrified.

"Newsflash, life isn't meant to be fair." Selphie deadpanned, stretching her limbs lazily.

Both Hikaru and Melinda's faces fell at Selphie's quick retorts, so I quickly intervened. "Don't mind her," I shot them a reassuring smile. "She's always like that,"

I ignored the snappy reply Selphie sent in my direction and conjured up another smile for Hikaru and Melinda. It seemed to the trick, as Hikaru nodded, seeming to get over Selphie's attitude much quicker than Melinda, who merely sighed and continued to look worried. Hikaru looked perfectly at ease, was poised on the tips of her feet, bouncing up and down slightly, with her hands firmly behind her back. "I hope we can start soon…" she trilled happily.

"Uh, yeah…" I said warily, unable to notice the sudden personality shift in the young girl as she brought her hands forward and hooked her thumbs into the pockets of her forest green cargo pants. "Me too actually."

"I'm a little nervous," Melinda suddenly admitted. "The last preliminary was hard. This one is going to be even harder. If we use the wrong medicine in the wrong order, we're gonna get disqualified. And if we can't tell what bottle is which…" she trailed off, looking worried.

"I'm not worried," Selphie said confidently, bringing herself back into the conversation. "The chemical make up of all the medicines are really different from each other. I can tell the difference."

"How?" Hikaru asked excitedly.

"Well, I like science so it's easy for me," Selphie said with an airy shrug. "And of course, all the medicines smell, look and taste differently, even to humans. Surely you've all given Pokemon medicine before? You can't tell me you've never given emergency aid to a Pokemon when you're away from the Pokemon Centre?"

At this point I had to nod. The time I had spent away from Nikki and Jasmine, training on my own for three months while trying to keep hidden, I hadn't been able to risk going into Pokemon Centres that often to heal my Pokemon. Of course, that had meant I had become wholly dependent on the portable medicine that I could pick up relatively cheaply and carry around with me for emergencies. When I thought about it, I had used more than my fair share of Potions and Revives. If I thought hard, I could bring back the memories of their sights and smells. Despite myself, a confident smile tugged at my lips. Maybe I could do this…

"Oh well!" Hikaru said brightly, her sudden chirpy attitude physically making me jump. "We should just do our best! If we do well, we do well! If we fail, we fail!"

"That's a very, uh, optimistic attitude, Hikaru…" Melinda said nervously.

Hikaru shrugged animatedly.

"Well I'm not going to lose," Selphie said traitorously, leaning further against her work station. "I can't lose. Not unless the Rattata escapes on me,"

"That could be a distinct possibility…" I muttered to myself. "Rattata are annoying, sneaky little—"

"Vermin?" Selphie offered.

"Aww, no! Rattata are cute!" Hikaru suddenly squealed, a big grin adorning her face.

I frowned at Hikaru, and despite my better judgement asked "Are you mad?"

"Hmm." She seemed to consider it before trilling back "A little,"

"Great," I murmured, looking at the amateur Three Stooges I was now standing with. Why did I always seem to attract the strange ones in any group of people I was in…?

"H-hello? Is this on?"

I winced in pain as the screech of the microphone cut through my whole body, sending violent tremors through me. Selphie let out an exasperated sigh of "Finally!" while Hikaru and Melinda guiltily snuck back, or skipped back in Hikaru's case, to their own work stations.

"Apologies, yes, apologies for the technical difficulties!" the announcer cried, sounding as far away from "sorry" as one could get. "We are now ready, yes, now ready to undertake the second preliminary! Please listen, yes, please listen carefully for instructions."

"This ought to be good," Selphie remarked.

"You will each be provided with a sick and injured Rattata. Now, don't worry, yes, don't worry, we have not harmed these Rattata ourselves in any way. They have been shipped in from the local Pokemon Centre, where you will return them to after administering the medicine for proper release. Now, as some of you, yes, as some of you have probably guessed, the bottles of medicine we have provided you with are blank! Yes, blank! You have no labels, yes, no labels to show you which medicine is the Revive, which medicine is the Super Potion, and which is the Full Heal! Now, if you administer, yes, if you administer the medicine in an order different from the Revive, Super Potion and Full Heal, the proctors, who know which bottle is which, will immediately disqualify you!"

I groaned.

"We assume, yes, we assume that you trainers have been battling and on the road long enough, yes, long enough, to have needed to use means other than just Pokemon Centre healing to assist you. How can we expect, yes, how can we expect you to be good, all-rounded trainers if you are not skilled in the basics? And we consider Pokemon first aid to be one of the most vital basics! If you cannot prove yourself capable of this, then you are not worthy of entering the battleground! If you cannot heal your Pokemon, then you do not deserve to battle them, and endanger their lives!"

"I see his point actually." I murmured.

"I saw his point half an hour ago…" Selphie said darkly. "I just want to get on with this."

"Once the injured Rattata, yes, once the injured Rattata has been fully, and properly healed, you must then transport the Pokemon to the Pokemon Centre and hand it over to an official proctor. You may use the cage provided if you wish. However, if your Rattata escapes, you will also be disqualified! There will be proctors stationed outside along the way to the Pokemon Centre who will disqualify you, yes, disqualify you if they see your Rattata escape. Now, yes, now, I understand that this is a difficult challenge… and there will likely be many disqualifications. But do your best, yes, do your best!"

I groaned. I was starting to hate this man more and more with every instance he opened his mouth.

"And now, yes, and now, the proctors will provide you with your Rattata and the second preliminary will begin!" the microphone screeched as he put it back, but then he suddenly lunged for it again. "And remember, yes remember, that this is timed! Don't spend too long deciding with medicine is which! And! It's a long way to the Pokemon Centre from here…" he added maliciously before stepping down from the microphone once again.

"Is it just me or does he really seem to love torturing us…?" I asked, my eyebrows twitching into a deep frown.

Selphie said nothing. She was swigging deeply from a bottle of water, which she quickly finished, put away and then pulled out another one. She then began swallowing that down, obviously not interested in talking anymore. I sighed, and looked around instead to pass the time. Proctors had descended on the work stations with large wire mesh cages. My eyes bulged. Those cages were massive and looked horribly unwieldy. The proctors had to clamp both hands around their sheer bulk and were moving very slowly and deliberately to manoeuvre the cages around. My heart sunk. The announcer had said we were free to use the cages if we wanted to. But these cages looked capable of housing a Granbull, not a tiny little Rattata. That cage looked bigger than me. There was no way I could carry that, let alone attempt to carry it quickly…

"I'm so screwed…"

They set the massive cages down on the workstations, and I peeked inside the mesh wiring to look at the Rattata. I had to squint to catch sight of the ball of purple fur, slowly moving up and down. I couldn't tell if it was sleeping or not…

"And… on your marks…"

I almost dropped from shock as the announcer bellowed into the microphone. Selphie was laughing at me from across the workstation, and I shot her my best menacing glare. It didn't have any effect on her.

"Get set…"

I tensed.

"And go!"

I became instantly, horribly aware, and terrified, of the fact that we were timed when the announcement went for us to start. I quickly wrestled with the latches on the giant cage. It took me a frustratingly long time to wrench them open. I didn't even hesitate, my heart banging as I ripped open the hatch and stuck my arms in. My fingers touched soft fur and I instantly grabbed onto the soft creature and dragged it out, perhaps a little more violently than I should have.

There was hardly any space for me to work with the giant cage taking up most of the space, so I elbowed it as far out of the way as I could, until it was hanging precariously off the edge of the workstation. As I finally set the unconscious Rattata down onto what little space I had left, an almighty bang ricocheted through the entire of the room. I whipped my head around and saw the tiny young girl with the chestnut pigtails stare in a kind of amused shock as the giant cage that seemed to dwarf her in size, and thankfully minus the injured Rattata, crashed to the ground, sending what felt like a miniature earthquake through the entire room.

I cringed. That girl looked no older than twelve or thirteen, and she looked even younger with the cute little red and white dress and pigtails. If that was me, even at seventeen years of age, I would have been mortified. I wholly expected her to at least, blush or even burst into tears, but instead, a huge sunny smile broke out over her rounded face and she started to giggle.

"Oops!" she cried, giggling maniacally. "My bad! Sorry about that, everyone! I'm a bit of a klutz today!"

"Stop gawking," Selphie's voice suddenly reached my ears, and I averted my eyes to see her glaring at me darkly, while still twisting the tops from one of the bottles. "We're timed, remember! Don't pay attention to anyone else!"

I cursed, immediately realising Selphie was right. I put the girl with the chestnut pigtails out of my head completely and focused on my task. I grabbed the nearest bottle, struggled with the cap and eventually got it open. Without even hesitating I put it to my nose and inhaled deeply.

I retched almost immediately as I did so, the thick, pungent, surgical smell catching the back of my throat instantly. But the smell was familiar… I sniffed it again, this time a little more warily, and a vivid memory returned to me.

"Easy girl," I say comfortingly as I twist Meloi's injured face towards me.

She's barely conscious, her eyes lidded and heavy, and is making a little fatigued, pained groaning noise with every shaky breath she takes. It breaks my heart to see her in such pain. Her training has exhausted her, that final battle against that Slakoth too much for the still newly evolved Ampharos to take. I delve straight into my bag and take out a bottle. As soon as I remove the stopper, the thick medicinal smell chokes its way down my throat like a fist, but I ignore it and drop the thick, gloopy liquid straight into her mouth.

She recovers after only a few moments, what little health she had now fully replenished and restored as if she was never injured to begin with.

The miracles of Super Potions never cease to amaze me.

"Super Potion…" I whispered to the bottle, before coming to a stark realisation. "No, I need the Revive first…"

I was conscious of the fact a proctor had moved in to start watching me intently and the noises of the occasional shout of anger or pain were ringing in my ears, making it almost impossible to concentrate. That and the knowledge time was certainly not my friend made me even more tense and jumpy. It was almost impossible to ignore the distractions erupting around me, but I still somehow managed to push through it and keep working. I barely even noticed as Selphie administered the first dose of medicine to her Rattata, under the watchful, and approving, eye of her proctor.

The second bottle I picked up I didn't recognise the smell of at all, but I wasn't overly worried. I'd never used a Full Heal before. I wasn't even entirely sure of what the stuff was supposed to do. By process of elimination I deduced that what I was holding in my hands was the Full Heal, the third thing to be administered. To double check, I grabbed what I assumed to be the Revive and consulted it. I had used many Revives in my time, and it's relatively odourless smell and thin, clear texture was recognisable immediately. I took a moment to take a deep breath. That Rattata was going to go mental as soon as it came to, and in a room full of people and Pokemon, it was likely this wasn't going to end well…

All the same, I couldn't waste time! Gathering what little courage I had, I secured the Rattata down with one hand and used the other to haphazardly drop the clear liquid into the Rattata's mouth. For an agonisingly long moment, nothing happened, and I tensed, a horrible notion that I had gotten the wrong medicine spreading through me instantly. But then, the Rattata moved slightly underneath my hand and its eyes sparked open.

"Easy, easy, easy, easy…" I murmured to the purple rat as it instantly began to struggle. "I'm not gonna hurt you, I'm here to make you better."

My soft, comforting tones seemed to work on the Rattata, unbelievably enough, and it relaxed, immediately stopping its struggle. I hardly dared believe that it was cooperating with me, but didn't want to waste time thinking about it and quickly began administering the Super Potion. However, my hand jerked and almost spilled the entire bottle all over the work station as a scream shot through the room. As I glanced up I saw a young man shriek and pull away from his work station, the jaws of the Rattata he was supposed to be treating now firmly embedded in his hand. I squinted at the boy as he prised the Rattata from his hand, trying to see if I recognised him. He was a tall guy, with messy brown hair and square rimmed glasses almost exactly like Elliot's. It came to me in a flash. This had been one of the boys Elliot had been talking to while he was waiting for the first preliminary!

After a few seconds of pained screeching, the boy eventually wrestled the Rattata from his hand and slammed it down on the desk, somehow restraining it.

"Challenger number twenty-nine, yes, challenger number twenty-nine! Chaison Coffman, do you require medical assistance?" the announcer cried.

"No, no!" the boy grunted, somehow managing to keep his Rattata under restraint. "I'm good!" he suddenly laughed, it ringing out loud and cheery into the room. "At least we know I got the right medicine, huh?"

An appreciative murmur of laughter sprung up through the crowd. Even I smiled, despite the situation. A Rattata bite was nasty at the best of times; I didn't envy that boy at all. It would influence his entire performance in this preliminary now.

I quickly refocused myself again. I seemed to be forgetting this thing was a timed competition. I had just about managed to convince the Rattata to take the drops of Super Potion (it seemed a little reluctant to take it. Not that I could blame him, it probably tasted disgusting as all things they claimed were "good for you" were) when the announcer was suddenly hollering excitedly into the microphone.

"Well look at that! Contestant number twenty four, yes contestant number twenty four, Jade Black, has finished administering his medicine and is now making his way out to the Pokemon Centre!"

"You're kidding!" I grimaced, turning my head only momentarily to see a billowing cloak sweep past my vision and a shock of blonde hair, as Jade Black dashed past me, his Rattata gathered in his arms.

"Shut up and get on with it, then!" With a flourish, Selphie had suddenly broken away from her desk, a squirming Rattata wrapped up in her arms.

"And challengers Selphie Laney, Scott Harper—"

"Scott?" I cried. "What a little—!"

I didn't have time to curse after Scott, as the announcer suddenly began yelling out names and numbers of even more challengers that were getting ready to run for the Pokemon Centre. Some part of me, even despite my panic, wondered how on earth the announcer knew so many names and numbers of the challengers just by looking at us, but I tried not to think about it. I slammed down the bottle of Super Potion, twisted open the bottle of Full Heal and carefully put the bottle to the Rattata's mouth, stroking gently underneath its thoat slowly to encourage it to swallow. No sooner had the Rattata swallowed the drops of the medicine, and after an encouraging nod from my proctor, I gathered the Rattata clumsily into my arms and bolted for the door.

I screeched in fright as a stray Rattata dashed across my path, followed immediately by a competitor firmly face-planting to the ground, after a failed attempt to lunge to grab his escaped Pokemon. In a display of athleticism I didn't even know I was capable of, I leapt straight over the boy lying in my way, landed effortlessly on my feet again and ran towards the door, squeezing my body through it just before it slammed shut again.

The Rattata was squirming in my hands so I took a moment to readjust it so that it was nestled comfortably in my arms, murmuring soft words of comfort all the while. I glanced around, spotting the tell-tale red roof of the Pokemon Centre in the distance, and I took a deep breath before running off in the direction of it.

As I ran, I realised with great annoyance that I certainly wasn't as fit as I used to be. My heart was banging in my chest within moments, and each breath came with a stab of pain when I drew it. My feet slammed hard on the ground, my legs cramping and tingling with every step. I was tiring fast.

And then, disaster struck.

A flash of colour streaked past me, and I caught sight of another of the competitors completely over-taking me. I only caught a fleeting glance of his face, but I recognised him instantly. It was the boy with the bandaged arms I had seen challenge the announcer earlier in the day. He was running furiously, his long, wiry limbs carrying him effortlessly across the terrain, his unruly black hair fanning out behind him. Distracted by the boy's display of athleticism, and coupled with the realisation that he must have caught up with me quickly as I hadn't seen him when I left the Pokemon Centre; I forgot to watch where I was running. My foot caught on something on the ground, and I felt my whole body become uprooted. I screamed, twisting my body around in mid-air as much as I could to protect the Rattata. I thudded hard onto my side, the Rattata squealing and squirming, its claws slicing open my arms as it scrabbled and fought against my grip, desperate to get away. But still I held on. I wasn't going to let this Rattata away from me. I wasn't going to lose! I tried to murmur soft words of comfort to the Rattata, trying to still it, calm it down. I felt tears of pain prick at my eyes as it continued ravaging my arms, pain exploding through it with every new cut they sustained.

"Sienna!"

The male voice calling my name was certainly familiar, but it didn't belong to Elliot, Scott or Bailey. I looked up weakly and saw a familiar freckled face come into my vision.

"Luca?" I asked weakly.

"Hang on, Sienna, we'll get you up," He said cheerfully, shifting his own, surprisingly calm, Rattata to his other arm and extending his hand to me. I gripped onto his hand, unable to move my body much at all, but Luca was willing and pulled me to my feet without almost any effort on my part. As he got a good look at me, his face fell in horror. "Oh my God, your arms…"

My Rattata was calm now; too interested in sniffing and investigating Luca's Rattata to continue tearing apart my arms. I glanced down and saw thin, jagged cuts criss-crossing my pale arms, standing out vividly and glistening with fresh blood. Luca's face was pale at my injuries, and even I felt light-headed and a little ill to look at them, but as I looked around, I saw competitors gaining on us. "Never mind me," I said hoarsely. "Let's just get to the Pokemon Centre."

Luca nodded. "Can you run?"

"I think so…"

"Come on then, let's go."

We broke into a run towards the Pokemon Centre once again. I had the feeling Luca could have probably run a lot faster than me, but the young boy stayed by my side, running next to me companionably the whole way there. I couldn't help but wonder why… This was a competition after all. Weren't these people supposed to only be looking out for themselves? I smiled a little, even through the shocks and stabs of pain. These people had really fulfilled my faith in humanity once again.

We got to the Pokemon Centre, Luca even holding the door open for me like a gentleman for me to walk through first. I was surprised to see that not many other trainers were here. A gasp of shock echoed through the few trainers that were here however, and as I looked down, saw blood dripping down my arms and soaking into my t-shirt. I grimaced. I looked like an extra from a horror movie. My eyes met Selphie's, who was sitting sprawled out in one of the chairs. She was frowning slightly. Scott was standing at the far side, separate from the rest of the trainers eyeballing me. As I caught his eye, he shook his head in an exasperated manner. Finally I looked at Jade Black, who was also sitting in a seat, sipping at a can of lemonade. He laughed.

Luca and I handed over the Rattata to the proctors and had our times taken, before we were told to wait for the rest of the competitors to appear. My arms were stinging with pain, and Selphie and Luca demanded for me to be seen by someone, but the Nurse Joy was revealed to be in surgery with an emergency, so there was no-one avaiblae to look after me.

Or so I thought.

"Hey," another voice cut in, and as I looked up, came face-to-face with the same olive-skinned boy who had been the cause of my distraction, which had then in turn caused my fall. "I saw you fall back then," he said, somewhat helplessly, I felt, while taking a seat opposite me. "S-sorry I couldn't stop and help you,"

"I understand," I said, offering him a watery smile. "It's a competition after all."

"I still felt bad," the boy said, pushing the square framed glasses he was wearing further up his nose. For a moment, he said nothing. He actually looked strangely uncomfortable to be sitting there, and he wouldn't quite meet my eye. Then suddenly, he spoke again. "Here. Take these."

He suddenly awkwardly pushed a roll of bandages into my hands. I blinked in surprise at their presence, and looked at the boy in confusion. He seemed a little nervous and chuckled softly. "I always carry some spare. I seem to get in a lot of scrapes," he said by way of explanation, indicating his own bandaged arms.

I could do nothing but nod.

"People under-estimate how much damage Rattata can do," he continued, suddenly reaching out and taking the bandages back, before pulling one of my arms towards him. His grip was light and hesitant. "Here, let me help you." Before I knew what was happening he was expertly bandaging up my arm.

"Th-thanks…" I murmured, not quite sure what to say. From over the other side of the room, Scott was shaking his head at me as he sipped at a can of lemonade.

"It's not a problem," the boy seemed to be more at ease now, his hazel-green eyes, large and round behind his glasses, returning a warming and welcoming twinkle. Within a couple of minutes, he finished with one of my arms and had started on another. "Oh, my name's Grey, by the way." He added, catching my eye momentarily. "Grey Thomas."

"Sienna Volbeda,"

"Nice to meet you, Sienna." He said with a smile. "I'd shake your hand, but…"

"No, no, I get it," I said, offering Grey a smile of my own. Remembering my manners, I introduced Grey to both Luca and Selphie, finding it strangely odd to be introducing people I barely knew to complete strangers.

There were yet more introductions to be had when Elliot burst through the door of the Pokemon Centre, his Rattata barely clinging on to his arms. He shoved the Rattata at the proctor and didn't even stop to hear his time before running up to me and embracing me in a massive hug right there and then.

"I heard you'd been hurt!" he gasped after hugging me, putting me at arm's length to look me up and down. "Your arms… they're all cut up…"

"I'm okay, Elliot, really…" I murmured, drawing him into a hug again, suddenly just wanting to cling onto him like a baby monkey. "Luca and Grey looked after me,"

Elliot ignored that, and instead leaned in and kissed me softly, in front of everyone there. Caught up in the kiss, I almost forgot about the very public setting we were in, and I found myself flushing with embarrassment when we eventually drew apart. He ran his fingers down my face, sending a little tingle down my spine. "I love you," he said softly.

"I love you too…" I whispered, feeling a smile tug across my face. Even after almost two years of being together, hearing those three simple words still gave the most intense butterflies.

"Adorable," Selphie deadpanned, sounding bored and making Elliot and I blush even further.

It didn't take long for the Pokemon Centre to be full to the brim with chattering and excited trainers once more. We were reunited with Jasmine, Nikki, Bailey and even Scott, who finally rejoined our ranks after his sister called him over. I had anticipated Luca, Grey and Selphie to excuse themselves as soon as the rest of our friends appeared, but Selphie seemed to get on well with Jasmine, while Grey and Bailey struck up a conversation (mainly due to Bailey's immense amusement from the fact Grey's first name was the same as his second name) and Luca flitted among the rest of us like an excited child, talking away to anyone that would speak to him.

We were called outside for the final announcement in regard to the second preliminary not long after that. Eight disqualifications were made, three for administering medicine in the wrong order, and five for losing the Rattata somewhere along the line. This brought the overall number of competitors down to thirty-eight. I swallowed. We still had a further eighteen competitors to lose.

A scoreboard was then announced. Right at the top of the leaderboard, with an overall time of just less than ten minutes, the shortest time by almost a full three minutes, was Jade Black. Scott placed high on the leaderboard, coming in at third place with just over thirteen minutes. I was ecstatic to see myself, Jasmine, Elliot, Luca, Selphie, Grey, Melinda, Crow and Hikaru all managing to cling onto various spots in the top twenty. I was particularly proud of my spot at number twelve. However, Nikki and Bailey were not faring too well, coming in at twenty-fourth and twenty-sixth respectively…

"And now, the final round, yes, the final round!" the announcer cried. "This is the make-or-break round, yes the make or break round! A good score, or a bad score, can completely change the leaderboard! People in the top spots can come crashing down, yes, and people in the bottom spots can come rising up! Do not, yes; do not assume your place on the leaderboard is fully set in stone!"

I caught Nikki nodding slowly. She had taken her comparatively lower down position on the leaderboard hard, and the disappointment was evident on her face. Bailey however had taken it in his stride, smiling, and saying he would just have to do better in the final preliminary. I slipped my hand into Nikki's, squeezing it reassuringly, and she managed to shoot me a watery smile. I prayed that both Nikki and Bailey would make it through to the battling rounds.

But then I realised I'd need to save as many prayers as I could so I could make it through to the battling rounds. The announcer was right. No-one's place was set in stone on that leaderboard. It was all going to come down to the final preliminary.

I just hoped it would go a bit more smoothly than the second one had.

Author's Note

Well, this is the second part of the Preliminary Rounds arc! Next chapter will end the preliminaries and after that, the battling tournament will commence.

I hope everyone who has had their OCs introduced are happy with what I've been able to do, and apologies to anyone who hasn't had the detailed introduction yet, it will all come to fruition soon :)

I'm really happy you guys like the preliminary rounds; I honestly thought you'd all hate it, but I felt it would be best to do this in order to make it more exciting and give the OCs as much screentime as possible.

Special thanks go to: Sunbean, WildCroconaw, Sniper Mudkip, KRDiva1, Aeroga, ArchXDeath, WOWFan123, Shadow of Eckhart, FindMe215, TCOBlackRoses, TwewyReaperGirl, WarriorSwift, and Shadow Serenity 57. The amount of reviews I've been getting is just awesome! Thank you all so much!

Please continue to read, review and most importantly, enjoy!