This is probably going to be the biggest Pokémon-related thing I've written so far.
Presenting: the Masters Eight as it went down in my take on the anime. This should probably also function as my normal disclaimer.
Hope you enjoy!
"Alright Max, our seats should be in Row Y of Section P!" May Maple said as she looked at their tickets.
Max Maple, now a full-fledged Pokémon Trainer, fidgeted with his pendant for a second before pulling out a map of the Wyndon Stadium, asking, "May, this stadium is huge, how are we supposed to find our seats in time for the opening ceremony?"
Before May could answer her brother's question, however, her Rotom Phone buzzed and she said, "Just a sec!" before picking it up. "Hello?"
"Hey May, what's up?"
"Dawn! How're you doing?"
"Not bad, how about you?"
"Max and I are in Wyndon Stadium right now-"
"You're here for the Masters Eight as well?!"
"Well yeah, Ash is gonna be competing! Max and I both agreed to pool our money together to buy plane tickets and come see him battle!"
"That's great, what's your seat assignment?"
"We're both in Section P, Row Y, seats four and five."
"I'm in seat six, I think I can see you from over here! Do you see me waving?"
May and Max looked around for a bit and Max said, "I see her over there!" pointing to a figure with a distinct white hat. May looked towards where her brother was pointing, and upon confirming for herself that it was Dawn, she grabbed Max by the hand and began running over, ending the call once Dawn was just a few rows away.
"Dawn!" May called out, waving her free hand excitedly. "Over here!"
Dawn got up from her seat and ran over to the end of the row, waving as May and her brother climbed up the steps. Once they were close to each other, both Coordinators gave each other a hug, Dawn saying, "It's great to see you!" Once she broke the hug, she looked down to meet Max's gaze and asked, "How's your training going?"
Max pulled out a Poké Ball and clicked it, releasing a Kirlia who, after a twirl, gracefully bowed and telepathically said, It's very nice to meet you!
Dawn giggled, "He's cute," as she shook the Emotion Pokémon's hand. "Do you know what he wants to evolve into?" she asked Max.
"Yeah, he decided that he wants to evolve into a Gallade about a month ago!" Fidgeting with his pendant once again, Max continued, "Dawn Stones are kinda expensive nowadays, though..."
"No need to worry, I'm sure that you'll be able to find one soon!" Max nodded as he recalled his Kirlia, and Dawn continued, "Come on, there's another friend of Ash's that I want to introduce you to!" Dawn dragged the Maple siblings towards their seats and sat herself down next to a maroon-haired girl who was holding her Eevee in her lap. Turning to Chloe, Dawn said, "Chloe, these are the friends I was talking about just now!" May and Max waved as Dawn continued, "These are May and Max Maple, the kids of Petalburg City's Gym Leader, Norman!" Turning towards the Maple siblings, Dawn said, "May, Max, this is Chloe Cerise, a friend of Ash's from Kanto!"
May shook Chloe's hand, saying, "It's so nice to meet you, Serena told me all about you a few weeks ago! How did you like our Contest circuit?"
Smiling, Chloe replied, "It was a lot of fun! I'll definitely think about trying out more Contests sometime in the future."
"How did you get to know Ash?" Max asked.
"He's a research fellow at my dad's laboratory in Vermillion City along with one of my other friends, Goh!"
Nodding, May and Dawn's Rotom Phones buzzed simultaneously, both devices saying, Message from Serena Yvonne!
Serene Grace: Hey! I just got my ticket and I think I got the same place as you guys! Section P, Row Y, right?
May and Dawn both reacted with an emoji of a Haunter's hand giving a thumbs-up, and Serena sent another message, saying, Great! I'm on my way over with some sweets! Does Max like Swirlix-style cotton candy?
May texted back, Yeah, he does.
Serene Grace: Glad I remembered that! I think I see you guys with Chloe from where I'm at, I'll be over before you can say Dunsparce!
After a little bit, May and Dawn both heard a, "Hey guys!" The two Coordinators looked towards the source of the voice, whose arms were encumbered by some shopping bags and snacks. Serena hurried over to the group of Trainers, slowing down when she was within a few feet of them. Slightly waggling the hand that was holding the pink-and-white swirl of cotton candy, she said, "This is for you, Max."
Max's eyes were positively gleaming with joy as he excitedly said, "Thanks, Serena!" as she passed the sweet treat to him.
Serena gave an ice cream cone to Dawn before giving May a box of Kalosian chocolates, explaining, "My mom mailed me a box of these yesterday, I thought you might like them!" May's squeal of delight was all Serena needed to hear as the Pokémon Performer turned to Chloe. "Oh, hi Chloe! I didn't expect to see you here!"
Laughing, Chloe said, "I could say the same for you Serena, didn't you and Lisia have a song to record or something?"
Blushing, Serena replied, "Lisia gave me the next two weeks off because she knew that the Masters Eight was a big deal for me," twirling a finger through a blue ribbon wrapped around her wrist as she finished her sentence.
May and Dawn exchanged knowing looks, shrewd smiles appearing on their faces. Before either of them could ask her why, Max, in the middle of eating his cotton candy, beat them both to the punch with a blunt, "It's because of Ash, isn't it?" earning unamused stares from his sister and her friend.
Serena smiled and nodded. "I promised him that I'd be cheering for him at my fullest when we last met in Lilycove City." Looking towards the stadium, she thought to herself, If anyone can win this, I know it'll be you, Ash. Go get them.
Meanwhile, on the other side of Wyndon Stadium, Angie Solaine stood at the bottom of the stands, looking up at the big screen as it showed highlights of each participant in the Masters Eight in a gradual fashion. When the screen finally jumped over to Ash and his career highlights, it took a vast amount of effort for her to not fall over from shock because of the sheer length of his accomplishments. Recovering, she saw a highlight of his battle against Tobias from four years ago on the screen and she quietly said, "Good luck, Ash," before beginning to head over to her seat. Taking out a bag of Pewter Crunchies she had bought earlier, Angie opened the bag and was about to start eating before a black-and-purple blur zipped into her lap and swiped the snack away.
Following the blur, Angie chased it across several sections of the stadium before crashing into a trio of what appeared to be incredibly tackily dressed tourists. Watching as the blur, which turned out to be a Morpeko in Hangry Mode, began rustling through her food, Angie indignantly called out, "Hey! Is this your Morpeko over here?!"
The lavender-haired tourist let out a startled yelp as he fished Morpeko out of the bag... which was now emptied of all food. Pulling out a Poké Ball, he recalled his Morpeko and said, "I'm really sorry about that, I'll go buy you another bag."
"You don't have to-"
"I insist! Just wait right here," the tourist said as he ran to find the nearest food counter.
Angie sat down next to his other companions, an awkward silence passing between all three of them for a moment. Taking a look at the magenta-haired tourist, Angie asked, "So... why are you three here?"
Scoffing, the tourist said, "Obviously we're here to watch the Masters Eight, twerpette, why else?"
"Well, sorry for asking," Angie muttered, rolling her eyes. Taking another look at the two tourists, she said, "Wait a minute... I think I know you from somewhere!"
"You do?" The tourists exchanged nervous looks.
"Yeah, you're Jessilina! You were at Professor Rowan's Pokémon Summer Academy program four years ago, plus you were a semifinalist in the Sinnoh Grand Festival that same year!"
Laughing, Jessilina said, "Oh, just call me Jessie, dear," dismissively waving a hand in her direction.
"Jessie..." It all clicked for Angie, as she remembered that incident with the Lickilicky. Folding her arms, she said, "Give me one reason why I shouldn't sic Luxray on you right now, Team Rocket," reaching for her Poké Ball.
Meowth threw off his disguise and raised his paws in a placating fashion, saying, "Wait, wait, wait! We're not here ta cause any trouble! We just came to root for da twerp!"
"Really," Angie snarked. "You're rooting for the guy whose Pikachu you've been trying to steal for eight years and counting?"
It was at that moment that James came back with some snacks, passing a new bag of Pewter Crunchies to Angie, saying, "Sorry about my Morpeko earlier." Looking at her unamused expression, James turned to Jessie and Meowth, asking, "What's with the long faces?"
"The twerpette knows, James."
"Oh." Turning back to Angie, James said, "Twerpette- no wait, your name was Angie, right?" As the green-haired tomboy nodded, James continued, "Look, we're just here to support Ash. We helped him in Shamouti and saved him in Greenfield years ago, and he's also bailed us out of some tough spots on occasion. If the twerp truly hated us, I don't think we'd even be able to follow him around anymore considering how powerful his Pokémon are."
Opening her bag and eating some crunchies, Angie, after swallowing, said, "Fine, I'll take your word for it," popping more crunchies into her mouth afterwards.
Ash quietly made his way past the crowd in the Wyndon Stadium lobby, stopping when he reached the registration counter. "Hi Nurse Joy, I'm here to register for the Masters Eight," Ash said, holding out his Rotom Phone as he did so.
"Ah, pleasure to see you, Mr. Ketchum, let me just verify your ranking and then I'll let you in." Scanning the phone as if it were a Trainer ID, Nurse Joy waited for the computer to verify said scan.
Pokémon Trainer identified: Ash Ketchum, age eighteen. Winner of the Orange League, Lumiose Conference, and Manalo Conference. First and current Champion of Alola. Gym Badges obtained: fifty-two. Frontier Symbols obtained: seven. Current rank in the World Coronation Series: 8. This Trainer is eligible for participation in the Masters Eight at the end of the season.
"That's quite a résumé if I say so myself, Mr. Ketchum," Nurse Joy chuckled. "The rest of the competitors are in the back room in the hall off to your right, you know who's participating in this, yes?"
Nodding, Ash replied, "Leon, Cynthia, Steven, Lance, Diantha, Alain, and Iris."
Nurse Joy passed him his Rotom Phone back, saying, "Here you go!"
Ash called out, "Thanks, Nurse Joy!" as he sprinted in the direction of the back room, Pikachu pointing out directions so that Ash wouldn't get lost again.
Once he found a door with an 'M8' placed on a red, green, and blue star, Ash opened said door and walked in, earning the attention of the six other figures in the room. After a brief silence, he and Pikachu both waved, with Ash saying, "Hey."
Cynthia was the first to greet Ash, giving him a hug as she said, "Good to see you again, kiddo, are you ready for the biggest battles of your career?" As Ash nodded, Cynthia smiled and said, "Hopefully we'll see each other in the finals."
Iris was next, and she tackled Ash in a hug. "Don't think that our battle will have the same outcome as last time!" she exclaimed, flashing a fanged smile his way.
"Pleasure seeing you once again, Mr. Ketchum," Diantha said, shaking his hand while next to her, Gardevoir bowed with grace. Winking, the actress asked, "Give them a good show, why don't you?"
Ash nodded before walking over to Lance, who grabbed his hand in a firm handshake, saying, "We meet once again, Ash... if the brackets permit it, let's have a good battle. You've come a long way from that rookie Trainer who swept his first League match with a Kingler," he finished, his eyes gleaming with amusement.
"The bracket's randomized?"
Steven Stone nodded, replying, "Yeah, it's not ideal but we've been sending feedback since the last WCS season to hopefully get a way to rectify that." Turning to face Ash, Steven nodded his way, saying, "Pleasure seeing you again, Ash, Wallace's told me a lot about you." Looking to his left, Steven said, "Alain, come say hi to Ash."
Alain stepped out from a corner of the room and smiled. "Hey Ash. Ready for a rematch?"
Putting a fist forward, Ash smiled back and said, "You bet!"
"Charizard's been doing a good amount of training to beat Greninja this time, you'll be surprised... if we end up facing each other, that is."
"Here's hoping!" Ash replied as he shook Alain's hand.
A new voice said, "Glad to see you here, Ketchum! It's certainly been some time, hasn't it?"
Leon, the Champion of Galar stepped into the room, letting out a booming laugh as he closed the door behind him. "Sorry about that, was just checking with the officials on what time the introduction ceremony is supposed to start."
"What did they say?" Iris asked.
"We've got half an hour to kill some time." Turning to Ash as everyone else resumed their conversations, Leon asked, "How was your climb to the Masters Eight?"
"It was pretty tough at some points, but man some of those battles were really fun!" His smile slightly faltering, Ash absently shrugged his shoulders as he continued, "I wish there were more Full Battles in the Ultra Class, though... the fact that only Raihan and Drasna had Full Battles as part of the Ultra Class was kinda disappointing."
"I get what you mean."
"Oh yeah, I met your brother on the way to Wyndon Stadium."
"Hop?" Chuckling, Leon asked, "Did he challenge you to a battle?"
Ash nodded. "In hindsight, I probably shouldn't have lead off with Pikachu."
The Mouse Pokémon sheepishly rubbed his head on Ash's shoulder, muttering, "Pika pika..."
As May, Serena, and Dawn were busy discussing the latest happenings on the Contest circuit, Max was busying himself by watching old tournament matches from the Manalo Conference, as he was busy romping around Hoenn trying to find all the Pokémon he had befriended when he first traveled with Ash, May, and Brock around that time. In the middle of watching Ash's match in the finals with Gladion, Max paused the video when he heard an announcement over the stadium's PA system:
"Attention, all attendants! The opening ceremony of the Masters Eight will begin in two minutes! If you can, please return to your seats!"
On the other side of the stadium, Angie and the Team Rocket trio turned their attention to the arena, Wobbuffet popping out of his Poké Ball as well.
As Chloe nervously looked towards the arena, Max and May held onto each other for support. Dawn had a determined expression on her face, as did Serena, though she absently twirled her fingers around the ribbon on her wrist.
As the hubbub in the stadium began to die down, the stadium's PA system sounded off, "Ladies and gentlemen, Pokémon of all ages, it gives me great pleasure to announce that the Masters Eight opening ceremony will now begin!"
The cheering in the stadium slowly began to increase to a fever pitch as the roof retracted and spotlights began to shine in the arena.
It's a slow start for sure, but I actually had the foresight to make an outline this time around so that I'm not left bumbling around like an idiot trying to think of what to do next.
Hopefully you guys are excited for the next few chapters!
-Krosshair