"I can't wait for some of Brock's cooking!" Yelled Iris excitedly. She was getting hungrier every second she continued to think about it. The three of them were almost back at the Pokémon centre. Things were going to be quiet for a while as round three had come to a close.

"Yeah I know. Brock is a really good chief." Agreed a smiling Tyler. He had gotten many good samples of the breeder's cuisine since coming to Driftveil city.

"But don't forget, you've got an event to attend." Reminded Brock.

"Oh yeah, that's right. You're invited to the party celebrating those who made it to round 4!" Said Iris.

"Yeah. Hey Brock, could you watch over my Pokémon while I'm away?" He asked the former gym leader.

"Of course. I'd be happy to." Replied Brock.

"Thanks a lot. They put in a great effort today so they could really use the rest." Tyler said.

"Your Pokémon all looked great today. Especially your Flygon. I can tell just from a glance that you've done an excellent job raising it." Brock said.

"Well what do you expect from another aspiring dragon master?" Asked Iris.

"Yeah. Anyone can train a dragon type Pokémon. But you need to really understand and appreciate them to bring out their full potential and help them be the best they can be." Tyler said.

"That's right! And that's what being a dragon master is all about. Right Axew?" Iris asked her partner.

"Axew!" Cheerfully responded the dragon.

"And we're here." Said Brock as they came up on the Pokémon centre. They walked through the automatic doors to see Ash, Dawn and the rest of their friends sitting around a large table waiting for them.

"Hey guys." Gary said casually when he saw them enter the room.

"How's Clair?" Asked Misty.

"As lovely as ever." Brock's heart sang.

"She's doing pretty good. She's also given me some encouragement to keep doing my best in my next battle." Tyler answered.

"That's good. I'm sure you'll do great." Said May.

"Good luck to you guys. I'm really going to enjoy watching you battle in the tournament." Max said.

"And we'll be here rooting for you all the way." Tracey said.

"Well I'm hungry. We should get going." Ash interrupted.

"Okay. Let's go then." Tyler replied.

"Then I'd better get dinner ready for the rest of us." Brock said before walking into the centre's kitchen. The rest of them bid farewell to Tyler and Ash as they left for the hotel that was hosting the party.

Goodshow was near the front entrance to welcome all the trainers as they arrived. He held the upmost respect for those who had made it this far. The old man was excited to see the familiar faces of the champions and elites alike, as well as the fresh, young talent of the future generation. He uttered a hello and a congratulations to everyone as they entered the event hall. Of course there were accomplished trainers like Cynthia, Alder and Wallace there, but also those who were unexpected or over looked.

Once the trainers arrived they helped themselves to drinks at the bar and food at the buffet table. The party seemed more quiet this time around as there were only half as many people from last time as attendees. And of those remaining, there were some like Tobias who didn't even show up. Those who did made small conversation with one another or just kept to themselves.

One of them was a guy in all black clothing standing alone near the back of the room. He had made it this far and yet he still hadn't felt like he'd accomplished anything. He knew his toughest battles were ahead of him. The ones he'd faced so far were far from the level of competition he'd hoped for. He and his Pokémon had barely been challenged since the competition began. Once the tournament was all done he'd probably head back to Vertress city and try to arrange a battle with Alder.

The middle of his thoughts were broken as another man walked up to him. He was also dressed in his usual all black attire with silver lines as he recognised the face of a friend of his and smiled, despite the look of complacency his friend held. "Well look who's still hanging around. Good to see you're still here."

He looked up to see the friendly face of someon he knew. With an exasperated sigh he responded. "What do you want Nitro?"

"Nice to see you too." He joked. "You've gotten a lot better since last time I saw you. I can tell you've been training hard, haven't you Barrett?"

"Yep. I came to play… and I play to win." He said crossing his arms and leaning his back against the wall.

"That's just how I remember you. And it doesn't seem much has changed since then. You've dominated everyone so far." Nitro said.

"You're not doing too bad yourself. I heard you beat tower tycoon Palmer."

"I did, thanks for noticing. He was a strong opponent though. So… excited? We both made it to the fourth round."

"Excited? I'm so bored. I've yet to find anyone to give me a good challenge. A lot of the people here aren't worth my time."

"Com'on. You wouldn't be here if you didn't like battling these people, even a little." Nitro said with a smirk. Barrett just rolled his eyes at this.

"Changing the subject, where's your friend Joe?"

"He's around somewhere. He's cool and all, but he's so stuffy all the time. Doesn't know how to cut back. That's just not who I am." Nitro said.

"Well, that much is true. But besides him, do you have any other friends in the tournament?"

"Well my brother's out. So is Mysterial. That leaves you, Joe, and… Cynthia." He confirmed.

"Cynthia eh? That'll be quite the challenge." Barrett thought.

"I know. I've spent a long time making sure that I wouldn't lose to her again." Nitro said confidently.

"Doesn't matter. I'll thrash both of you." Barrett smiled and closed his eyes.

"Mighty confident aren't we?"

"I have the strength to prove it. You'll see." Barrett looked around at the other trainers. "It's only a matter of time."

Ash and Tyler walked into the room and found Charles Goodshow waiting for them at the front door.

"Greetings Ash! Good to see you again." Happily said the old man.

"Mr. Goodshow!" Ash said pleasantly surprised.

"You know Mr. Goodshow?" Tyler asked.

"Yeah. Mr. Goodshow is the president of the Pokémon league planning committee. I've met up with him a bunch of times during my journey." Ash explained.

"Ah Tyler! I've heard a lot about you young man. So exciting to see someone with so much skill and potential, and at such a young age." Goodshow praised.

"Uh thank you Mr. Goodshow." Tyler beamed.

"My pleasure. It thrills me to see trainers compete with such spirit! Nothing makes you feel more alive than being in the heat of battle!" Goodshow laughed.

"I know. There's nothing like having a good pokemon battle." Ash agreed.

"I know that!" Said a voice from across the room. The three of them looked over at the source and saw a friend of Ash's from the Hoenn region. He was wearing an orange robe with red pants. He hurried over to them excited to see his friend again.

"Ash! How've you been?" Asked Morrison.

"Hey Morrison, it's good to see you again." Ash said.

"I've been training really hard for this tournament. I'm not going to lose to you again like I did last time." He assured with a smile.

"We'll see about that, cause I'm not going to lose either." Ash said. The two of them were having a stare down with challenging smiles on their faces as Tyler and Goodshow watched their rivalry being brought back to life in front of them.

"Hahaha, that's the spirit. It's always good to see trainers engage in heated competition while striving to get stronger amongst their peers." Goodshow merrily laughed.

"Who's this Ash?" Tyler asked.

"Oh, this is Morrison. He's a good friend and rival of mine I met in the Hoenn region. Morrison, this is Tyler. I met him when I got to Driftveil city." Ash introduced the two.

"Nice to meet you!" Morrison said with a spirited handshake.

"You too." Said Tyler slightly surprised by the boy's energy.

"Hope you're ready to lose, cause I'm winning the whole thing!" Morrison cheered.

"Well you'll have to beat me to do it." Said a determined Ash.

Goodshow put a hand on a shoulder of both of them. "This can all be settled later. Lighten up; this is a party after all!" Said the cheery old man.

"Guess you're right." Agreed Ash.

"Yeah, I guess." Said a sheepish Morrison as he calmed down.

"That's good! Healthy competition is fine, but you need to relax a bit more too. So enjoy yourselves, you all deserve it!" Goodshow told them.

"Hey Ash I bet I can eat more sandwiches than you can." Challenged Morrison.

"No way, can't beat me Morrison!" The two of them rushed over to the buffet table to engage in another form of competition. Goodshow gave a blank stare as he watched the two boys get more than their money's worth.

Goodshow laughed to himself. "Just like young boys. The best way to focus their minds is to fill their tummies. Hahahaha!"

Tyler looked over at Ash and saw him and his buddy Morrison stuff their faces like it's the end of days. As the trainers piled in he started to recognize some pretty famous icons in the Pokémon world. He saw the powerful gym leader and contest master Wallace. The master water trainer was wearing a light blue cape with his white beret. The guy's fashion choices certainly caused him to stand out in the crowed. He was currently being interviewed by Rhonda for 'Sinnoh now' since the tournament was being broadcast globally.

He also saw Drake, a dragon type specialist and member of the Hoenn elite 4. Drake was one of the most powerful dragon type trainers in the world. He was actually kind of hoping that he get matched up with Drake, battling another dragon trainer would help him grow stronger as an aspiring dragon master.

He was looking around and saw Alder, Brandon and his brother too. He was at a table eating quietly by himself, occasionally looking over towards Ash and Morrison to see what the ruckus was about.

"Hey, what did Claire talk to you about?" He asked as he approached.

Jamie looked up at him from his seat. "Just stuff about how far we've really come in our journey. Bringing Blackthorn city more accolades, wearing the gym badge with pride, nothing I didn't already know." He waved off.

"Just let this sink in for a second. We… WE-." Tyler motioned to the two of them. "- Made it to the top 32 in the biggest tournament ever. We should be on cloud nine right now!" Tyler said thrilled.

"I know. I can hardly believe it myself. I've been struggling not to get my hopes up too high in case it eventually ends." Jamie barley contained his excitement.

"We can worry about that later. For now let's celebrate." They both raised a can of pop in their hands and clanged them together, deciding to just enjoy themselves for the night. They enjoyed the food that was provided and just talked like normal people when they were actually getting along.

"I'm looking around, and I still see a lot of tough trainers here." Tyler said.

"Yep." Jamie said as he looked over his shoulders around the room. "There's a lot of skill here. I'm really anxious about who I get matched up against." He said with a slight chill.

"Speaking of which, remember that guy a few days ago? The one with the Espeon and Umbreon. Didn't you get even a little creeped by that guy?"

"Yeah a little. Seriously, that guy was sketchy as shit. Like how he appeared to come out of nowhere?" Jamie hushed.

"I know. But he did help us out, so he can't be that bad right?" Tyler asked.

"That's up for debate." Jamie gave him a look.

"You know he's probably around here somewhere. I know he's competing, I saw him beat a member of Unova's Pokémon rescue squad."

"So he's competing too? We'll have to be on our guard against that guy." Jamie said passively.

"We should go look for him. I've got a weird vibe about that guy."

"I guess. Might as well at least thank him for helping us out before." Jamie agreed and got up to his feet.

"Let's check if he's around." Tyler suggested. The two of them walked from their table and search for the mysterious do-gooder amongst the crowd.

Ash wobbled over and sat down in a chair by one of the tables. He had just finished eating enough food to clear out a food bank and was bracing himself for when the after effects of over-eating finally hit him.

"Ahhh…. Now I'm all set 'til my next battle." Ash moaned and patted his full stomach, along with a groaning Pikachu on his shoulder that agreed with him.

"Huh. I wonder where Jamie and Tyler went off to?" He looked around amongst the people and couldn't find the two brothers he'd came here with. Morrison had left too to go to the bathroom, also feeling the effects from his competitive eating spree. At the moment it was just him alone with Pikachu to wait off the excessive food intake.

"Ah whatever. The food here is too good not to go nuts." He said as he patted his tummy. "Some things you just can't regret." He said with closed eyes and a smile on his face.

"Well I can see your appetite is still as strong as your spirit."

Ash quickly opened his eyes and looked to see the kind smile of a friendly Pokémon breeder.

"Or were you just 'starving' for a win." Said his brother who walked up beside him.

"Reggie! Paul!" Ash said surprised.

"Hey. It's been a long time." Reggie waved at the potential Pokémon master.

"Wait, if you're here… than that must mean…?" Ash deducted.

"Yep. I was invited to compete in this tournament too." Reggie said cheerfully.

"No way." Ash gapped. "You're in the competitive circuit again?"

"It's too late for him if you ask me." Said Paul.

"Come on Paul, don't be like that." Said his brother.

"Hey you gave all this up already. You should count yourself lucky that they even invited you here." Paul said condescendingly.

"I guess so." Reggie gave a slight laugh.

"And Paul. I had no doubt you'd make it this far." Ash said.

"Of course. I didn't come all this way just to lose again." He said plainly.

"Well I didn't come to lose either. I may have lost back in Sinnoh, but I'm taking it all the way next time." Ash said with a determined smile.

"Good. Then I look forward to battling you again." Paul said with a bold stare.

The two rivals, who had the opposite methods back in Sinnoh, stared each other down as they prepared to confront one another once again. Their former rivalry, old but far from forgotten. Ash with a determined smile and Paul with a stoic stare, they both knew that winning this thing would not be easy. They were counting on it.

"Okay you guys, that's enough." Reggie separated them slightly. "No need to get so intense now. There's still time to relax and prepare for who you'll actually be battling."

"Guess you're right." Ash agreed.

"Hmph." Said Paul.

"Besides, I know the two of you will battle each other again no matter what, whether you get matched up or not." He added. Ash smiled back at the breeder. He knew them too well. And he also knew that Paul was thinking the same thing.

"Well then good luck to you in the next round Paul." Ash said with an outstretched hand.

"Yeah, you too." Paul hesitated but finally shook his hand. The older breeder smiled at them. They came a long way since they first met. And both had changed and grown much stronger through their connection with each other.

"Well good luck to you Ash. See you around." Reggie said before he walked away. Ash waved back to him and once again made dead eye contact with Paul. Paul still held a neutral face but he could see the determination and fire in his eyes.

*We will battle again. Just you wait.* Ash thought with a smile.

"Oh, if you'll excuse me. I have some briefing to do." Goodshow excused himself from his conversation with Brandon and Steven. He shuffled his way past some competitors and some staff members up towards the stage on the one side of the room.

He got himself up on stage and walked up to a microphone that had been set up for him. He cleared his throat and tapped on the mic a few times. The sound of the tapping echoed through the audio system and caught the attention of everyone in the room as they all turned their focus onto the spirited old man standing by the mic.

"Greetings all you talented trainers! And congratulations on making it to round 4." Goodshow greeted the finalists. Several murmurs of excitement flowed threw them as many of them were thrilled to be there in the heated competition. Others simply clapped amongst themselves as their own form of praise for their fellow competitors.

"Those of you who remain have persevered and overcome many difficult challenges to make it this far, even before this tournament was ever announced. You have all concurred the many trials you've faced together with your Pokémon. All that you've done, everything you have experienced has brought you to this moment."

"Talk about over playing a scene." Mumbled Joe.

"What's wrong with that?" Asked Nitro.

"We've only done three rounds and he's already bringing so much drama into this. If only he could battle as well as he preaches."

"Oh would you relax, it's fine." Nitro said put off. He enjoyed getting fired up over this.

"It is a wonderful accomplishment that all of you have made by making it here tonight. And I hope you've all readied yourself for the competition ahead. Because for all the coming rounds, every battle will be six on six full battles!" He announced.

"Full battles, alright!" Cheered Morrison.

"Are you ready Pikachu?" Ash asked his partner.

"Pika-pika!" It responded with gumption.

"Now that we've gotten to the intense full battles you will all know who your opponent will be in advance. In three days you will all battle it out with your best Pokémon and your best wits. I wish the best of luck to all of you. Now without further ado, I present to you the tournament matchups for round 4!" Goodshow gestured to the wall behind him as the matchups were projected up behind him.

Tobias vs. Anabel

Eldes vs. Red

Drake vs. Cynthia

Brandon vs. Benga

Tyler vs. Saturn

Nitro vs. Giovanni

Bryson vs. Lucian

Ash vs. Alder

Paul vs. Jamie

Claire vs. Barrett

Evice vs. Dean

Joe vs. Morrison

Seth vs. Brandon P.

Michael vs. Brenden

Reggie vs. Wallace

Steven vs. Flint

"So that's my next opponent!" Morrison said as he saw his picture beside Joe. He looked over to see the well-dressed man with the neatly combed blue hair. "Alright! It's go time!"

"Oh. So you're my next opponent." Joe said with an uninterested look.

"Saturn huh? What's up with his hair?" Tyler wondered as he saw his next opponent's picture.

"Interesting news my friends. We're facing Tobias." Anabel said to her pokéballs.

Paul saw his opponent on the wall. He didn't know much about this trainer but he had heard a little about his skill and power. Nothing to get worked up over however. He looked around the room and saw the face of his opponent in person. Jamie had locked eyes with him too and they both stared at each other from across the room without exchanging a word.

"I'm facing Alder?!" Ash yelled in surprise. He had the unfortunate honor of being matched up with the Unova league champion. His outburst had caught the attention of some of those around him, but he was too shocked to notice. His shout allowed Alder to easily find the boy as he walked over to greet him.

"Well young man… it seems we have the pleasure of facing each other once again." Said the champion.

"I guess so. I've gotten a lot stronger since our last battle. I'm going to give it all I've got and win, no matter what!" He said triumphantly with the encore of his Pikachu backing him up.

"Ah, that's just what I like to hear! Good job Ashton."

Ash blanked for a second, then almost tripped over his face as he was reminded of Alder's habit of name mispronunciation. What was he, Stephen?

"I'm facing Wallace." Reggie stared in wonder. He saw the Hoenn gym leader continue his interview with Rhonda as she asked him for his reaction to the unveiling of his next opponent.

"One thing's for sure, I look forward to giving everyone a wonderful performance." He told her. Reggie grit his teeth. This was going to be a tough one.

"Well things just got serious." Jamie said to the side.

"I know just what you mean." Tyler responded.