Ash woke up the next day bright and early to get ready for the thrilling adventure ahead of him. After breakfast he headed straight for professor Oak's lab. He wore the same attire he had during his travels through the Sinnoh region. He wanted to make sure that all of his pokemon would be at peak performance for the tournament ahead.

Once he got to the lab he ran into professor Oak. "Ash, I heard you were going to enter the Driftveil world Tournament." said the esteemed professor.

"Yeah, I just came to see how everyone's doing." Replied Ash. "Why Ash everyone is doing just fine." He replied. "And just so you know there will be others you know competing in this tournament." "Do you know anyone else who is going to enter?" asked Ash.

"Come on Ashy boy we're going to be late." Ash turns around to the familiar voice he just heard. Standing behind him was a trainer the same age as him. His trademark spikey brown hair gave it all away. Ash recognised him as an old rival in his journey through Kanto.

"If you're going to enter this thing then we better go get on the boat before it sets sail without us."

"Hey Gary." Said Ash recognising his rival. "It's been a long time. Are you entering the tournament too?

"You bet Ash. You're not the only accomplished pokemon trainer from Pallet town. He said with a smug expression. "I plan to use my research knowledge to win the whole thing."

"Plan all ya want, but you've gotta beat me first!" said Ash determinedly now knowing that he will have an old rival in the tournament.

"Oh, is that all I have to do?" taunted Gary still showing signs of smug on his face. "hey, watch it Gary!" Ash shot back. "There's no way you're gunna beat me."

"Now now." Interrupted the professor. "If either of you want to participate than you're going to need get ready quick, the boat leaves in 15 minutes."

AAAAAHHHHHHHH! Yelled Ash as he ran out of the lab in a huge hurry to get to the port. Gary turned to his grandfather. "Don't worry gramps. I'll take care of everything… and him." He said as he gestured to Ash as he walked out after him.

The 2 boys ran out of the lab and ran down to the port. They proceeded to walk out on the pier and gave their ticket to the porter and walked onto the ship. They walked from the deck to their cabins. Ash went into 1 room and Gary went into the one next to it.

After parting ways Ash walked into his room and plunged onto his bed. He started to think about a couple of battling scenarios for the tournament. He then thought about all of the other participants that he might find there. What kind of trainers there would be? He might find trainers with a lot more power and experience than him. And maybe if he even had a chance of winning. He immediately put this thought to the back of his mind and looked over to see Pikachu sitting by his side. Ash knew that together they could beat them all.

Ash looked up as his door swung open Gary walked in with a concerned look on his face. "Hey Ash" he began. "What kind of trainers do you think are going to be in the tournament."

Ash began to think about it again, as he had done before Gary had walked into his room. He looked up at his old rival and gave his honest answer. "I dunno Gary, there are bound to be some really powerful trainers."

Gary now looked more concerned, he had just gotten an answer he did not want to hear. He has not been in competitive battling since the silver conference. Ash noticed this and tried to cheer up his old friend. "Well, we both have some really strong pokemon, so let's do our best and meet each other in the finals." "pika, pika!" added his partner.

The thought of humiliating Ash in front of the world in the finale overtook the fear in his mind of getting there in the first place.

"You're on Ash!" he said. "But don't be surprized when I beat you there."

After their conversation they could see flocks of Wingull out the window. The 2 well-seasoned travelers knew that this was a sign of approaching land. They raced out of the room and out to the edge of the boat and looked out at the city of mines.

"I've heard that this city is a major distributing area and a gateway to the Unova region." Gary informed. "This would be a great place for a major tournament for people from all regions."

Ash didn't say anything he had already had his mind fixated on winning the tournament. "look out Driftveil" he said. "Cause I'm gunna win."