Disclaimer & Claimer: Refer to previous chapters.

"And this, is why we called you all here." He announced. "Would you care to try some Pokemon Tennis?"

After that, Ryoko shooed them all back to bed, despite the enthusiasm to try out the sport straight away. They did some little games in the morning though. Their Pokemon were a little uncomfortable at first, but soon they were having just as much fun as the regulars.

They settled in the bus waiting for them outside, driven by none other than their beloved couch Ryuzaki-sensei. It was quite a scene in the morning when the couch greeted them.

"Everyone settled? Good." Ryuzaki-sensei started the bus, "Let's go then."

The bus drive was anything but quite. Shouts of excitement rang from Momoshiro and Eiji, chatter went on between Inui and Ryoko. Fuji and Tezuka exchanged small conversations. Soon, Momoshiro and Kaidou started their usual round of arguments, this time adding the rivalry between their Pokemon as well. It was quite surprising that the bus survived several Thunderbolts from the inside. As to what happened to the direct target? Well, you can try asking the four charcoals on the walkway.

On the way, Ryoko filled them in to the basic rules of Pokemon Tennis. It's pretty much the same as normal tennis rules, just adding restriction to the Pokemon's abilities. After all, how is it possible to win against a Wailord ten times bigger than the court itself? And who could possibly outrun Deoxys Speed Form? Speed Boost Ninjask? That would totally be cheating.

And Pokemon doesn't need a racket. They can just hit the tennis ball back with their hands or any other part of their body. That added some distance between the hit point and the tennis ball, hence why the court is slightly smaller.

Kanto Regional would be their first step into the Pokemon world. After that, they just have to win the National against other winners from four other regions. Only the Top 4 from each of the four regions are guaranteed a spot in the Nationals. If they fail to reach the top 4, there's a loser's bracket to give 1 other teams a chance. But that's up against up to hundreds of teams who would have gone through harsher training after their defeat. God knows if they'll make it.

So top 4 is the goal. Of course, they are aiming for number 1. But you know, being a beginner and all that, they are actually more concerned about not getting KO'd on the first round. Not that they'd ever admit it openly.

The hours long bus ride did not have one single dull moments with Pippi on board. The little electric mouse kept herself occupied explaining the rules to her fellow Pokemon team mates. The use of expressions and hand gestures made it possible for the human team mates to catch a wind of what she was saying. But the confused expressions on both the humans and the Pokemon was a fascinating scene to see.

They look like they've just heard gibberish. Not that words made up of 'pi's and 'ka's and 'chu's are understandable.

With the help of Ryoko, everyone understood the gest of it by the end of the trip. Now all they need is some actual games and voila, you have a great team of tennis idiots.

When the bus stopped in front of a large manor, they were greeted by three familiar faces. Wanna guess who it is? The Ichinen Trio!

Standing patient beside Horio, is a little brown foxlike Pokemon, who has a similar ribbon tied on its left ear. As soon as Ryoko stepped off the bus, the little guy jumped into her in joy. "Vui vui!"

Ryoko caught the Pokemon in her arms, "I miss you too Ibby."

Ibby the Eevee nudged her trainer affectionately.

After Ryoko has introduced her second Pokemon to the group, they followed Kachiro and Katsuo into the manor.

The rooms has been cleaned and organized neatly, ready for someone to just jump in and start having a life. 10 tennis courts has been weeded and repainted, prepared to be trampled on by human and Pokemon alike. Tomoka and Sakuno took out food from the large kitchen onto the long dining table, it's already lunch time.

And as soon as lunch is finished, there's only one thing these tennis loving youngsters will do.

SIGHTSEEING! Duh.

The biggest City in Kanto is only 10 minutes away, of course they'd go and look around. Right?

So right now, half the team of middle schoolers acted like 3 year olds, exclaiming over the simplest of the items. The other half turned away in embarrassment, not wanting to have anything to do with those idiots excited over a Clefairy Poke'doll. The mature teens found a nice cafe to sit down.

"Sugoi nyaa~~ Look Aipom! This look just like you!"

"Is this your little brother Pignite? It says…Tepig! Your little brother Tepig!"

"Aha a hahahaha! Fascinating items! What's this? Technical machines? I see I see…"

"Shhhhhhhhh…Skitty…..Cute…"

"BURNING! I AM UNBEATABLE WITH THIS X ATTACK!"

Their strange behavior kept other customers from coming into the shop, but their enthusiasm to buy the whole store kept the shopkeeper's temper in check. Heck, the one wearing sunglasses and cap is holding up a special VIP pass.

There's only one type of people who can have this pass….wait a sec…

Dark green hair, small built, gentle smile, teenage girl, Pikachu and a Eevee…all evidence point to one person…!

"Momoshiro-senpai, the cafe is giving out free food."

Just then, Ryoma walked into the store at the order from their captain, just so people don't see Seigaku students are complete idiots, "You should hurry."

The shopkeeper stared in awe. He pointed at the Seigaku freshman, then at the smiling trainer. The finger went back and forth between the two, "Eiston…!"

Ryoko smiled gently at her brother and tucked him towards the door, "Let's hurry, they have the best cream puffs." She chuckled nervously. Pippi followed her trainer's example and pushed the other four players outside as well, leaving the confused shopkeeper to think by himself.

"This is BIG NEWS! I should contact the TV Station..."

By the time they sat down at the cafe, the news of someone named Roselyn Eiston at Saffron City already spread like wild fire. The whole city crowded around the little shop they have been just minutes ago. Five pairs of eyes looked at the smiling girl curiously.

The said girl drank her hot chocolate, completely unbothered by the event.

"That shop looks very popular, I wonder what's happening." Fuji leaned his chin on his hands, "You guys were just there, weren't you?"

"They seems to be looking for someone named Roselyn, Eiston." Oishi added, "A lot of buildings has Eiston written on it. Is she someone famous?"

Eiji pointed at the largest building sitting right in the middle of the city, "That one says Eiston Corporation, maybe this Roselyn is the CEO nya~"

Flipping through his notebook, Inui added, "All the items I've looked through is produced by that company as well." He pushed his glasses.

"She must be famous. There's the news crew!" Kawamura pointed at the white van and the two man hold their expensive looking cameras. On the van, printed in bold black letters, says Pokemon National Television.

"I bant do be on TB tsu!' Momoshiro tried to talk with his mouth full, earning a glare from Oishi.

As more and more people flooded towards the shop, Eiji cannot contain his curiousity any longer, "Ne ne Ryoko-chan, do you know who Roselyn Eiston is?"

Nine pairs of eyes turned to the girl who has been quiet ever since the start of this conversation, she took another sip of her chocolate, before looking back at them, with a very sweet smile. "I don't know. Maybe she's a runaway patient from the hospital."

Lies.

Definitely lies.

Nothing but lies.

The table went silent after her comment. They clearly does not believe in her theory. She knows something. By the look of that crowd, the whole world knows.

The silent lasted a few more seconds, until a strange growl of an animal interrupted. People pointed at something in the skies, and more excitement brew from the crowd.

"OMG is that a Charizard!?"

"There's no doubt about it. That special black variation. Only one person in Kanto has a shiny Charizard."

"It's the champion! The champion is here!"

Eiji and Momoshiro ran out of the cafe to see what happened. They were immediately hit by a strong gust of wind from the dragon's wings. They stared in awe.

It's a dragon.

A living, breathing fire dragon, with the wings and all that. What are the chances of seeing that in real life?

Well, that depends on which world you live in. But according to Inui-senpai's little book, the percentage of seeing a dragon in real life, is 0%.

"Sugoi~ It's a dragon Echizen! Look!"

"Oishi Oishi! A flying dragon!"

Soon enough, they all made their way outside, to see the scene for themselves. The dragon landed on an empty area with a thump, creating a small earthquake. Fan girl squeals echoed through the city.

A handsome young man jumped down from the dragon. He wore a bright red cloak that matches with his spiky hair. Underneath the cloak was some simple black suit. He looked unbothered by the camera flashes and the overwhelming crowd in front of him. That is the confidence of the Kanto Champion, Alex Preston.

"Champion! Are you here to see Ms. Eiston?"

"Would you avenge for your defeat last time?"

"Is there anything you want to say to the viewers at home?"

"I've got only one thing to say." The champion flashed a cocky smile, "Today, I WILL defeat the undefeated legend, and I WILL pay back what she did last time." He looked straight past the Seigaku regulars, "So stop hiding over there, Roselyn Eiston. Or should I say…Ryoko Echizen!"

Ryoko took one last sip of her drink and sighed.

Sooooooooo, I don't know if people actually still read this but, I'm sorry for the really really long hiatus. I was supposed to update earlier but the past two years has been pretty chaotic with school and part time work *cough*games*cough*. I had no weekends TT^TT

Excuses aside, I was going to post chapter 10 like few weeks after chapter 9 but I had a case of broken USB and all my life of work was lost OTL I kinda lost motivation afterwards. But never fear, I will see this first fanfic through to the very end. Even though I have a lot more homework this year, now that I have 18 minutes every day at school to do whatever on the computer, hopefully I can keep the updates more frequent. If not, someone get a whip and keep my lazy butt off the coach XD

Again, so sorry about the long hiatus. I hope I write another A/N to you guys very soon, and hope you enjoyed my chapters. I've tried to make them longer this time :)

And cookies for everyone who supported this really bad fanfic! (#) (#) (#) (#) (#) (#) (#) (#) (#) (#)