Yo!
Another week, another stage of Bianca's journey! This week, the World Championships begin!
Chapter 41
It was the first day of the tournament, and Bianca was just the slightest bit nervous.
…Okay, scratch that; Bianca was EXTREMELY nervous.
She didn't think she was going to spontaneously combust or anything like she might've at the start of her journey if she'd been put into such a scenario, but she definitely wasn't relaxed as she and a few thousand trainers filtered through the lines to register themselves for the battles to come in the following days.
Technically, they wouldn't actually be battling that day. Today was for registration, and, seeing as the World Championships had received far more turnout than had been initially anticipated – nearly five times as much – what they'd initially assumed would take a few hours looked far and away more likely to take the entire day. It didn't help that there had apparently been a code mix-up that had resulted in those who'd registered early – like Bianca – being deleted from the system, and having to re-register.
Thusly, tomorrow was the actual start date.
She was both glad for that, and not. On the one hand, she didn't mind the delay, given she'd have a chance to get some more training in that night, and prepare for her first match the following day.
On the other hand, she'd been glad to have finally arrived at the day the tournament was actually starting, because she could no longer be tormented by it growing ever closer, unable to sleep at night.
Yet now, she had one more night of precious sleep taken from her.
She grumbled under her breath, even as she moved up a few spaces in the, frankly, titanic line.
In all fairness, there were forty different lines. More than enough to filter through the ten or so thousand people that would be attending in a reasonable period of time. Bianca was just a little bit salty that Cynthia wasn't there.
Her girlfriend – and saying or thinking that really never did get old – had business to attend to for the day, but even if she hadn't, Bianca wouldn't have exactly been able to blame her for wanting to avoid the full day of waiting in a line that it seemed Bianca had ahead of her.
The smart people had been those who'd come to wait outside last night. It had seemed like overkill to Bianca at the time, and yet, they'd only had to wait four or so hours before getting in. Bianca had already been here for two, and it didn't really look like things were going to be speeding up any time soon.
There were still likely a hundred and fifty people ahead of Bianca in her line.
She groaned, but pressed on.
It wasn't like she could do anything else.
Time passed at a rate where, if Bianca didn't know any better, she might have thought that Dialga had frozen the entirety of Alola. Eventually, what felt like an eternity later, she stepped up to the registration desk.
She gave the woman her name, showed off her gym badges – which were all authenticated – and was officially registered. She was told that she'd be texted at her number to let her know who her first opponent would be, and that they'd be battling at the nearby training fields.
It was a bit of a letdown for Bianca's first matches at the tournament to be held on a collection of dirt fields, but she understood that ten thousand trainers couldn't exactly all fit into an arena to fight at once. Not to mention that a lot of them weren't going to be making it into the next round.
Only once they'd proved themselves would their matches be taking place in the arena.
Bianca was confident she could make it there.
Now she just had to prove it.
/
She returned to her and Cynthia's room to find that her girlfriend – hehe, she was getting all giddy again – was still out. That was a shame, but it let her focus on the there and then, aka getting as much training done in the short period of time she had left as possible.
She headed out for the next few hours, trained a bit with other likeminded people who were doing their best to cram as much as possible, and then got the text of who she'd be facing the next day.
It wasn't anyone she knew. A guy named Carlos from Kalos.
She was glad it wasn't Barry, or any of the others she knew like him. For one, they would've been more difficult opponents, but for two…
Well, she didn't want to knock out anyone she knew so early in the competition.
…She wondered if that was bravado talking. She'd never really had an ego before, but this felt like… it wasn't ego. It was just reality.
She was a good trainer. So many people had told her that at this point. Eventually… well, eventually, she had to believe them, didn't she?
So, she returned to the hotel, and found that Cynthia was there, seemingly waiting for her and nursing a mug of hot cocoa in her hands. The weather had begun to cool significantly over the course of the last few days, and Bianca was glad to have a mug of her own.
She hugged Cynthia first, of course. It left her feeling all warm and fuzzy that when she pulled away, the woman quickly leaned forward and pecked her on the cheek with a kiss.
"How did training go?" She asked.
"Fine." She was honest. "Nothing spectacular. But I won all my matches."
Cynthia seemed pleased about that. "It's good to hear you're doing so well. You should be a shoe in for the second stage."
"That's the hope."
There was a comfortable silence as the two of them sipped at their drinks, and sat side by side at the bar in the kitchenette. Eventually, Cynthia put her mug down, turned to her, and asked, "Are you confident?"
"I think I am, actually." She admitted.
"I'm glad to hear it."
They sat together a while, saying nothing of note. A few hours later, the time to lie down and prepare for the morrow had come.
Bianca was initially planning on sleeping alone, and being awake all night, but…
Cynthia climbed into bed beside her, snuggled up against her, and quietly spoke, "Hopefully this helps."
Bianca… she couldn't quite articulate what she wanted to say. The depths of her gratitude.
She just hoped that Cynthia knew, regardless.
/
That following morning, Bianca was far more well rested than she'd assumed she'd be.
She got breakfast, relaxed with Cynthia as long as she could, and then, when she could delay no longer, she went down to the trainer area.
It was a dirt field. Calling it anything else would've been an insult to any actual fields. Now, to be fair, Bianca wasn't all that upset about this. Dirt fields were good at absorbing falls, and required some additional planning to play around.
Grass and ground type Pokémon, for example, got huge boosts out of being able to utilize the roots below the earth, or the earth itself. She had Leavanny for grass types, and Rampardos did know Earthquake, but she was likely not going to be using either in the triple's round.
Milotic, Salamence, and Chandelure would make up a rather splashable lineup. They were solid all-rounders – with Milotic providing bulk, Chandelure damage, and Salamence a bit of both. She was then going to include the other three – Leavanny, Chandelure, and Rampardos – as options depending on her opponent's team. The most likely to swap out was Chandelure, simply because Salamence could mimic what it brought to the table with Flamethrower.
Both her and her opponent's lineups would be shown to both trainers. Her opponent had a rather simple roster – An Alolan Raichu, a Rhyperior, a Salazzle, a Clodsire, a Gyarados, and a Charizard, one that likely possessed a Mega Evolution of some kind. From those, the most likely lineup in Bianca's mind was that of Rhyperior, Charizard, and Gyarados. A similar lineup to her own. Perhaps he'd spec in Raichu to try and predict her bringing Milotic?
She was so busy thinking on potential strategies that she nearly missed the referee calling her over. She apologized, and then took her position across from the other trainer.
He seemed confident, about as much as Bianca was. She felt that would've affected her at some point in her life, but she was far past the point of allowing others to sway her so easily.
"Good luck." She told him, and though his eyes widened, he smiled a second later.
"You too.
And their match began.
/
It was five hours later when Bianca finally returned to her and Cynthia's hotel room. Her girlfriend – nope, wasn't getting old – was waiting for her.
"Well?" She asked, both nervous and hopeful.
Bianca really wanted to try and trick her, make her think she'd failed, but…
Her lips split into a grin too quickly.
"I went 2-0!"
Cynthia laughed triumphantly, zooming across the room and tightly hugging her. She giggled into the woman's embrace, and met it with one of her own.
"That's amazing! I'm so proud of you."
"Hehe…" She was embarrassed. Compliments still weren't her thing. But… "I feel pretty good. I felt my team performed really well, and I was mentally present during the matches."
"That's all you can ask for, isn't it?"
"Mm." She chuckled. "Uhm… would you want to go out and get dinner to celebrate?"
Cynthia looked thrilled. "And here I was thinking you'd never ask."
/
The week went by quickly, far more so than Bianca had expected.
And she was still in the tournament, as she had expected.
She was good, and clearly a cut above most of the other trainers who'd shown up for the qualifiers. There was a certain tier of trainers like her, among them were Barry, and a few other people who Bianca didn't know. She was lucky that she wasn't matched up against any of them, for she felt her chances of continuing on to the next round would've been far slimmer.
There were a few Gym Leaders among the pool of qualifies as well. Any of them that were former Champions were invited into the seeded rounds already, and many of the more well-known Gym Leaders, like Elesa and Blue, had received invitations into the seeded rounds as well.
A few, however, such as Norman, had to work their way up from the qualifies, the same as everyone else.
Bianca ended up running into the man in her fifth match, and their battle was close.
But, as Bianca had hoped, she prevailed in the end. In all honesty, despite the fact that she had but one Pokémon remaining, she was still far and away the clear victor of the match. Salamence hadn't taken a hit, and Norman's Slaking had been the first Pokémon eliminated due to a tricky maneuver by Bianca's Chandelure, utilizing its Truant against it.
"That was a fantastic match, Bianca." Norman chuckled as he recalled his Pokémon. "A shame I ran into you so early, but alas, it seems my time has come to an end here."
Bianca smile apologetically. "I'm sorry, sir."
"Oh, don't be." He waved away her concern. "You showed your true strength. You shouldn't apologize for claiming victory. Besides, I'll have the chance to actually focus on my daughter's matches this way. It's not quite a win-win, but it's not so bad."
Bianca was glad the man was taking things too hard. Some of the other opponent's she'd beaten had clearly been very broken up about their losses, and it was hard for Bianca to feel good about her victories when that was the case.
Still, by the end of the day, she was 5-0, and undefeated. That final victory against Norman had been enough to qualify her for the final round.
Where their numbers would be cut in half one final time.
If she won this, then…
She was in.
The main tournament; the chance to be on TV, and to chase her dreams…
It would finally be time.
Her opponent for that final round was, luckily, not Barry, nor any of the other competitors that Bianca would put on par with him. Norman had been the singular real challenge she'd faced, and even he she'd passed with relatively flying colors.
She would not look past her current opponent however. She focused in, and managed to bring him down with two Pokémon to spare.
She was still sticking with a simpler team style for now. Salamence, Milotic, and Chandelure, the latter of whom she occasionally swapped out for Gallade depending on matchup. Both Leavanny and Rampardos were more suited to 6-on-6 matches, where she could properly play around their inherent weaknesses – Leavanny's massive weakness to Fire Type moves, and general frailty, and Rampardos' lack of speed to close the gap on its enemies without the support of its allies.
Still, she allowed herself to breathe a sigh of relief now that she'd won. A way's away, she saw that Barry was hugging each of his Pokémon, having also successfully qualified for the next round.
A couple of the others among the elite tier in the qualifiers that she'd met were there too. Leaf, a trainer from Kanto, Brendan, a trainer from Hoenn, and Hop, a trainer from Galar. She knew there were a few more around their general skill level, but they must've been a part of either the earlier or later matches of the day.
The simple fact was that the training field might've been big, but it didn't have the room to fit ten thousand trainers all at once. The first three days of the competition alone had been devoted purely to round one, and the matches had been spread all over the city, in whatever venues they could find. It wasn't exactly the prime event Bianca had been imagining at first, but then, she supposed that was to come.
And it was coming. She'd made it.
She had a wide smile on her face as she made her way back to her and Cynthia's apartment, and walked in to find that her girlfriend – heh – wasn't in at the moment.
That wasn't too surprising. As the televised portion of the tournament got closer and closer, she became busier and busier. Given she was involved with the business side of things, Bianca imagined that things were likely more than a little hectic for her right now.
Then…
/
When Cynthia arrived back at the apartment roughly two hours later, she stepped in to find a little surprise from Bianca.
She'd made dinner.
It hadn't been a simple task, of course. She'd had to go out and buy things from a nearby supermarket, and the things there had been much more expensive than she was used to in Nuvema, but it was worth it for the look on Cynthia's face.
Bianca had a feeling that Cynthia wasn't very used to home-cooked meals, and especially not someone else cooking for her. During their time together, Bianca and Cynthia had almost exclusively eaten out, and while that was nice…
Well, there was something special about just sitting down at the dining table, and eating amongst family and friends, in the comfort of one's own home.
This was a hotel, but that was semantics.
What she'd cooked was simple; just a curry recipe her mother had taught her when she was younger, alongside some flavored rice and pork cutlets. It was a humble, but hardy meal, and she hoped that Cynthia liked it.
"You… made all this?"
"I did."
"That…" Cynthia's lips turned up into a small, tender smile. "Thank you."
"Well, c'mon. Let's eat."
They sat around the table for around forty-five minutes, just enjoying their meal together. Bianca was happy that nothing had come out either under or overdone, and that she'd remembered the proper ratios of things like spices and flavors.
"I made it into the seeded rounds!" She told Cynthia, and received a nod in return.
"I actually looked that up while I was at work," She chuckled. "I was thrilled when I saw that you'd qualified. From among nearly ten thousand applicants, you're one of just one hundred and twenty-eight remaining."
Alongside one hundred and twenty-eight invitees, that meant that there were eight more rounds to decide the true champion of the world.
And while Bianca was also nervous…
She couldn't hide that she was thrilled just as much.
/
The following day, Bianca couldn't quite help but be in a bit of a panic.
That was because she was set to step onto a stage in front of roughly sixty-thousand people, and battle it out against a random person that was still in the tournament.
Among that number were some of the very best trainers to ever exist; May, Dawn, Steven, Wallace, Diantha, Iris, Geeta, Leon, and so many more. There was to be an introductory show before the event kicked off, during which the current champions of the nine regions of the world, alongside the other invitees, would come up on stage to a sea of applause.
They – referring to the 128 who had qualified through the bracket that Bianca had been a part of – were set to walk on stage afterwards, where they would likely be given a much less enthusiastic showing of applause.
But hey, that was fine in her eyes. She didn't know if she could handle it if the crowd were screaming her name.
…
"Bianca! Bianca! Bianca!"
…
"Hey, Bianca!"
She snapped out of her own fantasies to see that it was Barry who'd approached her, waving her way with an enthusiastic smile.
"Oh, hey, Barry."
"How ya' doin?"
"Eh, a little nervous."
He laughed. "Yeah, I remember my first time going up on a stage like this! It's a crazy feeling." He patted her on the shoulder supportively. "If it helps, remember that no one's really looking at you unless you're competing. For this opening ceremony, the people's attention's gonna' be on the big guys, not us small fry."
Bianca giggled. "Thank you, Barry. I'll keep that in mind."
"Mm. Ah, have you met some of the others?"
"Depends on who 'the others' are."
"These two," He gestured back towards two trainers that Bianca recognized. "This is Leaf," He gestured to a brown-haired woman with a bright smile, "And this is Brendan," He pointed to a more serious man who nodded Bianca's way. "They're a few of my kindred people; the partners to champions."
Bianca's eyes widened. "Hm?"
"Well, you know I was Dawn's rival during her trip through Sinnoh, yeah?" He asked, and Bianca nodded. "Leaf was a childhood friend of Red and Blue, and then Brendan was actually May's rival, believe it or not."
Bianca's eyes widened, and she shot forward.
"You know May!?"
"Uhm…" He seemed surprised at her sudden enthusiasm. "Yes?"
"Can you get me an autograph!?"
"Uhm… Yes?"
"Methinks that was a good answer." Leaf chuckled. "Nice to meet you, Bianca. I hear you're a part of our little club too, no?"
"Oh, yes," She was brought out of her revelry about finally meeting May, and getting her to sign something. "I was a… well, I guess I was one of Hilda's rivals while she was going on her first journey. Although I wasn't so good back then."
"Hey, skill doesn't factor in too much," Leaf laughed. "I was crap back then, too. I'm sure we'd all say the same things, no?"
Barry and Brendan both seemed to share the sentiment. That surprised Bianca a bit, given she'd just sort of assumed that all the other trainers that had made it this far were confident, assured people who'd never struggled a day in their lives.
But…
When she looked around, she saw more than a few nervous faces. When she looked around, she saw people breathing heavy, some doing exercises to keep their heads busy. Others were on their phones, distracting themselves.
…No one was quite as put together as Bianca liked to pretend that they were.
"Oh, it's starting!"
Bianca turned towards the stage, which they could barely see from out of the tunnel they were at the end of. Sure enough, music had begun to play from the main arena. Suddenly, there was a great pyrotechnic burst, and an announcer appeared on stage.
"WELCOOOOOOME TO THE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP!"
The crowd came alive, letting loose a bellowing sound that filtered back through their tunnel, reverberating through Bianca's entire being. She felt both energized and intimidated.
But it was a good feeling, nonetheless.
The man went through a fairly standard introductory speech. He talked about the event, the sponsors, and the format of the tournament.
"This will be a single elimination bracket! Just one loss will take any competitor out! Have a bad day? Make the wrong call? That's all for you!"
The stakes were high, but then, things had been no different before, in the previous round.
"There will be eight rounds. Today, we have two-hundred and fifty-six competitors! In three weeks, that number will be down to just two."
A thrill ran through Bianca at that very thought.
"Now, let's meet some of our competitors; one hundred and eighteen of our invitees!"
Bianca was semi-curious about the fact that ten were missing as the crowd erupted into cheers, but then, she assumed that was for a reason. The MC wasn't just going to be making things up as he went along.
The crowd that emerged from out of the tunnel opposite them on the other side of the arena was filled with many faces that Bianca recognized. Wallace, Iris, Blue, and Elesa just to name a few. Although she was a bit surprised to find that as she scanned the group, a few faces that she'd expected weren't among the crowd.
For example, neither May nor Dawn were among that number, despite her knowing that both were there for the tournament.
That must have meant…
"A round of applause for all our invitees!"
There was a little more than a round, but Bianca got the sentiment.
"Next, we'd like to specially introduce those ten invitees who were ranked by a panel of judges and analysts to be the very strongest here! Those seen as the most likely to lift the trophy at the end of our tournament!"
Ah, so that was what they were doing. Individual introductions for the most hyped competitors. Likely to drum up talk, and increase sponsorship numbers from individual videos on the internet after the festivities.
Bianca chuckled. Marketing could make things seem a little less fun when put like that.
"In tenth place, sporting 40/1 odds; champion of Kalos, and renowned actress; Diantha!"
The woman herself rose from a platform under the ground, waving at the crowds as they chanted her name, and called out to her. Bianca was impressed at the technical implements being shown here. It was a lot more so than the… well, the dirt field she'd been competing on up until this point.
"In ninth place, sporting 38/1 odds; unofficial champion of Alola, Selene!"
A local hero, and someone the crowd were rather clearly pleased to see. She was also frighteningly muscular, to the point that Bianca's eyes were wide as she played to the crowd, her arms bulging.
Huh.
Bianca was discovering things about herself.
"In eighth place, sporting 34/1 odds, former champion of Hoenn; Steven Stone!"
The man rose from out of the ground, and had a certain serene air to him. He seemed unflappable, and Bianca was instantly impressed by him.
"In seventh place, sporting 30/1 odds; chairwoman of the Paldean Pokémon league, and champion of it as well: Geeta!"
Bianca hadn't really seen much of the woman's footage while she'd been training. Still, if she was ranked seventh, then she was undeniably good.
"In sixth place, sporting 24/1 odds; one of Sinnoh's twin champions; Dawn!"
There was one of the figures that Bianca had been expecting. She wore a beanie, which seemed to just be her thing, alongside a warm winter coat. She waved to the crowd, and beside her, Barry screamed, "That's my friend!" loud enough that all of them glared his way.
In fifth place, sporting 18/1 odds; Hoenn's perennial champion; May!"
"MAAAY!" Bianca screamed out in support. Leaf and Brendan both chuckled. Beside her, Barry had a flat look on his face.
"Oh, so when I do it, I'm the one in the wrong, but when she does it, it's cute?"
"Yep." Leaf quipped.
"I see nothing wrong with your statement." Brendan confirmed.
"Man, you guys can all suck it!"
They laughed at the man's pain, even as they zoned back in.
"In fourth, sporting 14/1 odds; current champion of Unova and head of the Battle Castle; Caitlin!"
Ah, Bianca had almost forgotten. The person whom Iris had given the title of champion to, and the person who'd held it ever since she'd relinquished it. Caitlin had initially seemed a filler champion, someone holding the title only until someone else took it, but she had come into her own as the champion of Unova, and truly showed herself to be an elite trainer.
Still, there were those considered better. Those considered even more elite.
"Now, it's time for our top 3!"
"In third place, stepping into our tournament with 8/1 odds, former champion of both Kanto and Johto, and one of the most celebrated trainers on the planet; Lance!"
The Dragon Champion, and Iris' idol; Lance. He took to the stage with a stoicism that showed exactly why he'd been able to stand at the top of the Pokémon world for so many years.
"In second place, one of the best trainers of the modern era, and the hope of a generation; the shining star of Galar, Leon!"
A shot of fire rang up, and from within came the long-haired champion of Galar, Leon.
"He sports 5/1 odds in this tournament, the second highest amongst all invitees!"
The man raised his fist in the air, and struck a pose. It was clear he loved the position of champion, and the way the crowd roared told Bianca that they loved him just as much.
Still…
Bianca was surprised.
Because she'd figured that Leon would rank first, being one of the world's more prominent trainers.
But he was second…
Who was better?
Suddenly, the music ceased. Bianca seemed to be the only one who was surprised. The other trainers all smiled, and looked towards the stage.
Clearly, they knew something she didn't.
And then…
A piano began to play.
It was… an ominous tune. The player was clearly quite skilled, for their fingers sounded as if they were dancing across the keys. Smoke burst out of the stage, and a single pedestal rose above the others.
All of this hype…
"And finally, the most feared champion of the tournament, and the competitor coming in with the highest aggregate chance to take the title of Pokémon World Champion; sporting 3/1 odds. The other of Sinnoh's twin champions, it's…"
And Bianca's eyes widened.
And then widened further.
Because standing there, having just emerged from the smoke was…
"CYNTHIA!"
The crowd's roar was like a thunderclap aimed directly at Bianca's eardrums. She nearly had to cover them to prevent the noise from deafening her, although it dimmed somewhat as the announcer continued to speak.
Cynthia herself looked right at home. Her face showed up on the jumbotron directly across from their tunnel, and on it, Cynthia looked focused, and ready.
But as she noticed the camera on her, she looked directly into it, and gave a cocky smirk.
The crowd ate it up.
"Cynthia has been on a tear in recent years, placing in the top four of eighty-eight percent of the tournament's she's entered, and winning a record-breaking fifty-four percent of them." The MC spoke. "During the last year, she abstained from entering many competitions, but the year before, she won every single tournament she attended, including the Champion's invitational! For this reason, she is considered the favorite, even with an extended leave of absence on the record."
The announcer proceeded to say more about the bracket, and how the lots for rounds would be drawn.
But Bianca's head was elsewhere.
"…Barry?"
The man turned to her. "Yeah, Bianca?"
"Did everyone else know that Cynthia was a Pokémon champion?"
"Oh, yeah, totally." He looked to her with confusion, raising an eyebrow. "Wait… did you never figure that out?"
"She never exactly told me!"
"Well, I just mean… she wasn't hiding it all that well even when you guys were with me, and it's been like… six months since then? Maybe seven? I figured she'd have let it slip by now."
Well… she hadn't. Cynthia had kept that particular secret under lock and key, and said nothing to give herself away.
…Okay, now that Bianca thought about it, a lot of seemingly disparate things were coming together to paint a rather damning picture for her investigatory skills, but that wasn't the point!
"I think I need to talk with my girlfriend." She muttered.
"Wait, you guys are dating?" Barry laughed. "Congrats!"
"Oh, I didn't tell you?" Bianca went a little red. "Yeah, we got together a week or so ago – Wait, that's also not important right now!"
"I mean, you're dating the number one trainer in the world." Leaf shrugged. "Seems kind of important to me."
"How does everyone just know this!?"
"It's… rather common knowledge." Brendan stepped in, another damning nail in Bianca's investigatory coffin. "How do you not know this?"
"What do you mean!?"
"Bianca," Leaf raised an eyebrow. "Her face is on cereal boxes. Like… multiple brands."
"…"
"They're usually endorsed by 'Pokémon Champion Cynthia'."
"…"
"Just the other day, I saw her on a box of Hoop-O's."
"…"
"Her face was huge, too. Like more than half the boxes' real-estate went just to her."
"You can stop talking now."
"I think she was on a multigrain bar, too, and maybe–"
"Gah! Stop, I get it already!"
End Chapter 41
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