Shortly after the battle against Harry, we reached the entrance of Rusturf Tunnel. We prepared ourselves as we entered, torchlight on my hand to find my way through this dark place.

The trip through the tunnel was actually quite smooth at first. However, we felt an earthquake happening as we were about to reach the end. The ground shook heavily and as we tried to maintain our balance, some boulders collapsed onto the ground in front of me, blocking the path to the exit.

These boulders are huge... I don't think Ziggs can break them with Rock Smash.

As I was thinking of a possible solution, a familiar voice appeared, "Blade, use Psycho Cut on the boulders!"

I looked back and saw a Gallade's forearms glowing light blue as he swung his arms repeatedly, causingmultiple light blue crescent blades to come out of them. hitting the boulders and breaking them apart easily.

Beside the Gallade was no other than the Lilycove Gym Leader, Wally.

"Wally!" I greeted him.

"Lows! It's nice to see you here. Doing good so far?" Wally asked.

"Not too bad! I just obtained the Boulder Badge. Now, I'm heading towards Verdanturf Town for the other gym badges." I responded. Looking at the boulder-shaped badge pinned on my shirt, he beamed.

"We can talk about what happened in your journey later. Let's get out of this tunnel before another earthquake happens." I agreed with what he said, as we carefully walked through the tunnel and found the exit in no time.

Verdanturf Town

"The windswept highlands with the sweet fragrance of grass."

I had probably seen the most beautiful town in my entire journey. I was dumbfounded by the fresh air I inhaled the moment I stepped into the town, and beautiful flowers were planted around the area, adding fragrance into the air. There were not many houses built in here, which also probably contributed to the clean air the town had.

"This is a different town, to say the least, isn't it?" Wally grinned, "My relatives live here. I stayed in the town for quite a while back then to treat my sickness."

"Oh, that's unfortunate. At least you feel better now, right?"

"Yeah, it's mostly good now, but there are still times I still need my inhaler when things get slightly out of hand." He answered.

"This town must've held a special place to you, then." I said.

"Definitely, it was mainly part of the reason why my health was able to recover and made me able to start my journey as a trainer." He continued, "I was going to decide on building a gym in Verdanturf as my new gym due to the significance this town had to me. However, I gave up on that as construction on the gym would definitely ruin the environment here."

"That's true." I agreed.

We continued looking around the town as Wally continued talking to me about interesting things that happened to him in his early days as a trainer. Suddenly, a strange red-and-white tent caught my attention. It had a sign that said:

BATTLE TENT VERDANTURF SITE

"Feast Your Eyes on Battles!"

"Hm, what's this?" I asked.

"Oh, the Battle Tent? Occasional tournaments are held here, where trainers come around the tent in order to battle for a prize. I heard that the prizes they offer are pretty helpful for the long run." Wally explained.

A tournament, huh? It could help me train for the next gym battle.

We entered the Battle Tent to check for any recent tournaments, the appearance of the Lilycove Gym Leader surprising some trainers. Apparently, there was a tournament happening in about two days. Reading the details, I found out that for the tournament, you can only use two Pokémon for the group stages battles, and four Pokémon for the later stages of the tournament. It was a good opportunity to battle with all my Pokémon and train together as a team.

I told the receptionist at the counter, "I would like to register for the upcoming tournament, please."

The receptionist nodded, "Sure! There are still spots open for trainers." She gave me a form to write my personal details and the list of Pokémon I plan to use for the tournament. I wrote down all my Pokémon's nicknames while not forgetting to list their species.

After I was done filling the form, I handed it back to the receptionist. She checked the form and smiled, "You are all set, Lows from Pallet Town! Be sure to check in for the tournament before nine in the morning, then the tournament will officially begin at ten in the morning. I wish you the best of luck!" I nodded, thanked the receptionist and left the Battle Tent to book a room in the PokéCentre nearby.

In the room, I sent out my Pokémon, who had mixed reactions for the tournament. Surfer said, "This tournament is gonna be exciting! I'm kinda nervous as well, though."

"Same here, I hope I'm able to contribute to the team for the upcoming battles..." Ziggs said, slightly worried.

"I'll just try my best in the battlefield, as always." Grace smiled calmly, as Woody just constantly nodded to their conversation, probably due to him still feeling awkward in the team.

After we talked about strategies and plans on training the next day, my Pokégear suddenly rang, and it was my parents calling me.

I answered the call as my parents' faces appeared on the screen. [Lows! How's your journey going?]

I happily replied, "I'm doing well! A lot of things happened in my journey. I also got a device that translates Pokémon language. I can talk to my Pokémon now!"

[Really? A device like that really exists? I only heard plans about translating Pokémon language from Prof. Oak's interviews. I can't believe it's becoming a reality now.]

"It's pretty amazing. I also just finished my first gym battle, and it went well! I just obtained the Boulder Badge."

[That's great! What are your plans now?]

"I'm going to participate in a tournament held at the Verdanturf Contest Hall in two days. It's a good opportunity to train for the next few gym battles."

[Yeah, it's definitely going to be a learning experience! Lows, be sure to do your best in the tournament, and remember, focus on having fun with your Pokémon instead of winning.]

I nodded, quietly agreed with what they said. After that, we talked about life updates and then ended the call.

I immediately fell asleep on the bed, ready to start training for the tournament the next day.

While training at the route, someone familiar walked right past me, seemingly busy with his own training. After recognizing who he was, I ran over to him and tapped his shoulder, "Disc, it's been a while!"

Disc turned towards me and happily replied, "Lows! What are you doing here? Doing well in your journey?"

"Yeah, I've been doing alright. In fact, I'll be training more through the tournament I'm participating tomorrow."

"Oh, is it the one held at the Verdanturf Battle Tent?"

"That's right! How do you know about that tournament?"

"Well..." He grinned, "I'll be participating in the tournament, too."

"That's cool!" I was surprised by the news, "We might meet each other on the battlefield during the tournament. Whatever happens, let's do our best."

"That's the spirit. We'll see how much we've grown since we separated."

Seeing that he was training, I ended the conversation, not wanting to disturb his training session. We bid farewell as I went to another area to train for hours.

After that, I tried finding a restaurant to satisfy my hunger. However, I came across Harry, who did not seem to notice me, before he noticed me and started an argument, I left the scene and found a place to have my dinner.

While enjoying my meal, I thought, It looks like he's wandering around the town to do something. Maybe he's planning to stay in the town for a while? What for?

I shook my head, I guess that's none of my business.

After finishing the meal, I went back to my room in an attempt to get some early sleep. However, the excitement and nervousness prevented me from falling asleep. Eventually though, I was able to force myself to sleep.

After me and my Pokémon woke up, we immediately had breakfast and went to the Battle Tent. Fortunately, we were able to check in on time for the tournament. I also checked the groups for the group stages. I was in Group F with trainers named Justin, Miles and Luka. There were eight groups, and the trainer with the most wins in each group will proceed to the quarter-finals. My goal was just to do well and try to pass the group stages for this tournament.

The host of the tournament went to the middle of the empty battlefield and talked through his microphone, "Welcome to yet another tournament in the Verdanturf Battle Tent! I'm your host, Fred! I hope all the audience will enjoy the thrilling battles that will be presented on this battlefield! To start off, we have the trainers from Group A, the experienced battler who had achieved exceptional results from the previous Indigo League, Harry from Dewford Town versus the trainer born and bred in the Porry Family, the family known for outstanding battling skills, Luke from Mossdeep City! Let's give them a round of applause!" The audience clapped their hands and even cheered loudly.

I guess I know why he was around Verdanturf now.

"Isn't that the trainer who had reached the semi-finals in the Indigo League?" One of the trainers asked.

"I heard that he had studied battling strategies before starting his journey. Therefore, he was able to handle troubling situations during tough battles." The trainer beside him replied.

"Besides... his father is Brawly from Dewford Town! His father must've taught him a lot for him to become so strong."

"Ah, we're doomed!"

I had to admit, he did have great battling skills. However, I would never come to admire him as much as the others due to his way of treating his Pokémon. Nevertheless, I watched the battle through the television placed in the waiting room for us participants. The two were already in position, ready to battle.

As the referee announced the start of the battle, the trainer from Dewford threw his Pokéball, "I choose you, Marshtomp!"

The amphibious bipedal Pokémon appeared in the battlefield, and I assumed it was the evolved form of his starter, Mudkip.

"Let's win this, Doduo!" Luke threw a Pokéball up in the air, and an ostrich-like Pokémon appeared. I recognized it as Doduo, a Pokémon originally found in Kanto.

"The battle between Marshtomp and Doduo will now begin!"

"Marshtomp, use Water Gun!" Marshtomp released a spiral of water, which I felt was more powerful than Surfer's.

Luke did not hesitate to command, "Doduo, dodge and use Fury Attack!" The Doduo was able to dodge the attack thanks to its quick speed. After that, the Flying type dashed towards its opponent and jabbed Marshtomp with its beak four times in a row. Marshtomp winced in pain, but was far from being defeated.

"Doduo, use Fury Attack again!" Feeling his Pokémon had the upper hand advantage, Luke confidently commanded.

"Marshtomp, stay where you are!" Marshtomp stayed at his position, making me wonder what Harry had in his sleeve. Doduo ran towards Marshtomp again to give him more jabs. However, Harry had different plans to change the situation, "Marshtomp, use Mud Sport you two and use Bide!"

Marshtomp released mud from its mouth, surrounding both himself and Doduo with mud puddles. Then, Marshtomp's face turned red, charging up for his next attack as Doduo jabbed him another three times. However, he remained unfazed.

"Don't give up, Doduo! Use Tri Attack and escape from the attack!" Doduo released a triangular field of energy towards Marshtomp, as fire, thunder and ice hit the Water type upon making contact with him. However, the sturdy Pokémon ignored the pain, seemingly more charged up for his Bide attack.

As Doduo tried to make its escape, its legs made contact with the mud puddles, slowing down its movement. Marshtomp then took the opportunity and dashed towards the vulnerable Flying type, giving it a hard slam. Doduo who took the full-power attack was unable to endure the impact and collapsed.

"Doduo is unable to battle! Marshtomp wins! Luke, please choose your next Pokémon." As the referee announced, the audience were heard cheering for the Dewford native after witnessing his remarkable strategy working out.

"Doduo, good job. Now, let's finish Marshtomp off, Volbeat!" He returned Doduo and threw another Pokéball. A bug-looking Pokémon appeared in the battlefield, more than ready to avenge its teammate. Harry made the move to return Marshtomp and sent out his Machop. I was slightly worried that Machop would be able to perform well after the loss he had, but there was not much I could do at that point.

"Machop, use Focus Energy, then use Mach Punch!" Harry reused his strategy against me from the battle we had. Machop's eyes turned red as he quickly dashed towards his opponent, sending out a powerful punch towards his foe. The Volbeat was able to endure the attack thanks to its type resistance, but it still winced lightly from the critical hit.

"Volbeat, use Shock Wave!" Luke did not choose an attack that suited Volbeat's typing, probably due to the type resistance Machop will be having against Bug type attacks. I was slightly shocked that Volbeat was able to learn Electric type moves as the Bug type Pokémon sent out bolts of lightning towards Machop. He tried dodging it but the attempts were no use against the quick attack. He winced in pain upon taking the hit.

"Machop, finish this with Karate Chop!" When Machop tried to rush towards his opponent to make his move, Luke commanded, "Volbeat, don't give up! Counter with Signal Beam!"

The Bug typePokémon shot a beam of light towards the Superpower Pokémon. Machop was forced to endure the pain as he repeatedly chopped his opponent with the side of his opened hand. After both attacks were over, both Pokémon were too exhausted as they fell onto the ground, unable to battle.

"Both Machop and Volbeat are unable to battle! The battle is a tie! The winner of the match is Harry from Dewford Town!"

The audience clapped at the results, as I was in awe of the intensity of the battle I just watched. I started becoming slightly nervous about battling Harry if we continued moving on to later stages of the tournament.

Let's not focus on the "what if". Instead, we need to focus on the "now". Besides, we're just here to have fun instead of winning. I reassured myself.

Harry and Luke shook hands and walked away from the battlefield to prepare for their next matches. I continued to watch some battles in the group stages before the receptionist reminded me to go prepare for the first battle.

Although slightly nervous, I took a deep breath and prepared myself to enter the battlefield.

Finally, the host announced, "Now, we are starting the matches in Group F! Firstly, let's welcome the aspiring trainer from the Kanto region, Lows from Pallet Town versus the rising star from the Ace Trainer Association, Luka from Lilycove City! Let's welcome them with a round of applause!" The audience politely clapped their hands as me and Luka walked towards our sides of the battlefield. We politely bowed to each other before the battle started.

"The match between Lows and Luka will now begin! Trainers, please choose your respective Pokémon."

Luka sent out his Pokémon immediately, "Let's battle, Tentacool!" A jellyfish-like Pokémon appeared in the battlefield. I recognized it as Tentacool, another one of the commonly found Pokémon in Kanto. I threw out my first Pokéball as well, "It's time to battle, Grace!" The Feeling Pokémon appeared, examining her opponent calmly.

"The battle between Grace and Tentacool will now begin!"

"Tentacool, start off with Poison Sting!" The orb on the Jellyfish Pokémon's forehead glowed purple as it fired multiple purple darts from it at its opponent.

I immediately reacted, "Grace, dodge and use Confusion!"

Grace skillfully dodged the darts and closed her eyes, focusing her energy as she lifted the Tentacool into the air and hurled it towards the ground. The Tentacool immediately got back up and prepared for his next move.

The Ace Trainer commanded, "Tentacool, use Bubblebeam!" The Tentacool shot a stream of blue bubbles from its mouth at Grace. It was similar to the move Bubble, but without a doubt much more powerful. The bubbles blocked Grace's sight as she struggled to locate the Water and Poison type Pokémon for her next attack.

I need to guide Grace out of there... "Grace, use Double Team and relocate!" Grace immediately closed her eyes and created illusions, surrounding the Tentacool. Tentacool tried to locate the real Grace but it was no use as my Psychic type travelled freely around the illusions to relocate for an unblocked sight.

Luka commanded, "Tentacool, stay calm and use Bubblebeam around you!"

Tentacool immediately shot more bubbles, hitting some illusions but fortunately, not the real Ralts.

Grace stood still at a position, implying she found the location we wanted. I immediately commanded, "Grace, Confusion!"

However, instead of focusing her energy to control the Tentacool again, she released rings of psychic energy towards Tentacool. The rings travelled in the air quickly, hitting the unaware Tentacool as it collapsed from the super-effective attack. I smiled, knowing that the new move, Psybeam helped out to turn the battle in our favor.

"Tentacool is unable to battle! Grace wins! Luka, please choose your next Pokémon." The audience clapped upon hearing the results. Luka returned Tentacool and took out another Pokéball, "Never give up, Combusken!" He threw it to the air and a red chicken-like Pokémon appeared from it. I recognized it as the evolved form of the Hoenn starter Torchic.

I took a safe route to increase my chances of winning, "Grace, take some rest." I returned Grace and took out another Pokéball before throwing it. "Ride the waves, Surfer!" Surfer appeared in the battlefield, appearing to be slightly nervous. I comforted him, "Don't worry, Surfer. Just enjoy the stage."

He nodded at me, calming down a little as the referee announced, "The battle between Surfer and Combusken will now begin!"

"Combusken, use Double Kick on Surfer!" The Young Fowl Pokémon quickly dashed towards Surfer and gave him two powerful kicks before backing off. I was shocked by its speed, but we were not willing to give up so easily.

I tried to think of a counter plan when the Ace Trainer confidently commanded, "Combusken, use Double Kick again!"

As the Fire type Pokémon rushed in again, I had my plan thought out, "Surfer, use Withdraw, then Water Gun before Combusken recovers!"

Surfer immediately protected himself using his shell, absorbing the impact of the powerful kicks and slightly bouncing Combusken off from Surfer. As it struggled to back off, Surfer got out of his shell and released a spiral of water, hitting the Combusken full on. He took a decent amount of damage, but he was still able to battle.

"Surfer, finish him off with Water Gun, full power!" I commanded.

Luka countered, "Combusken, use Flamethrower, full power!"

The spiral of water was released as Combusken releaseda spiraling red-orange stream of fire from its beak. The two attacks collided, but the Water type attack extinguished the flames and continued its way towards the Combusken. Finally, the super effective attack hit the Fire type as it collapsed, relieving both me and Surfer that the powerful Pokémon was finally down. Who knew what an evolved form can do to disrupt our team.

"Combusken is unable to battle! Surfer wins! The winner of the match is Lows from Pallet Town!"

I was more than happy to get a good start for the tournament. I shook hands with Luka and we thanked each other for a good battle. Then, we went back to the waiting room for our next match.

Soon, the matches had begun for Disc's group, Group G. The host announced once again, "After the intense matches in Group F, we shall continue on with the Group G matches! It is the passionate trainer from Kanto who is ready to give his all, Daniel from Pallet Town versus the country boy wanting to step out of his comfort zone, Drew from Littleroot Town! Without further ado, let the battle begin!"

After the referee announced the start of the battle once again, Disc threw out his Pokéball, "Time to battle, Leafy!"

The Kanto starter appeared from her Pokéball, and I realized the appearance of Leafy had changed, having a flower waiting to bloom on her back.

Leafy evolved too... Disc must be training hard.

"Let's go, Camol!" Drew sent out a small camel-looking Pokémon into the battlefield. The two examined each other before the referee allowed them to start attacking.

"Leafy, let's start off with Tackle!" Disc was the first to command.

Leafy rushed towards Camol while the country boy commanded, "Counter with Ember!"

Camol immediately openedits mouth and shot bolts of fire at its opponent. Leafy stopped rushing and tried to dodge the attack, but still got hit by a bolt or two of fire. Wincing from the super effective attack, Leafy was not ready to give up just yet.

"Camol, use Magnitude!" ThePokémon loosed a ground-shaking quake, affecting Leafy as she struggled to keep in balance. Disc did not command a counter attack, making me confused.

Drew became more confident with the succession of Camol's move and commanded, "Camol, use Tackle on Leafy!"

Camol immediately issued the command as it ran towards Leafy to attack. A grin finally appeared on Disc's face, "You know what to do, Leafy."

Suddenly, Leafy released asparkling, light-blue powder is released from her bud. Camol made contact with the powder, as its movement started slowing down and became wobbly. Eventually, the Pokémon went into a deep slumber.

"No, Camol! Wake up!" Drew panicked and tried getting his Pokémon to wake up, but it was to no avail.

Disc kept the advantage in his hands, "Now it's our chance! Leafy, use Leech Seed on Camol!" Leafy then released a sprout from her flower towards Camol. The vulnerable Camol got hit by the sprout as it became wrapped in thin vines and leaves, restraining its movement. The vines and leaves then glowed red and sucked energy from their target. The energy is then transferred to Leafy, who smiled upon feeling the burst of energy returning to her.

After a while, Camol finally woke up and Drew commanded, "Camol, use Ember to break yourself free from the vines, then use Tackle!" Camol released bolts of fire towards the vines, burning them apart and quickly rushed towards Leafy the moment it was set free.

Disc was not backing off this time, "Use Vine Whip to throw Camol into the air!"

Two dark green vines immediately came out of the Ivysaur's bulb, surrounding her opponent and wrapping it. Drew is shocked by the turn of events and before his Pokémon could break itself free, Leafy threw Camol high up into the air, as her opponent slammed itself towards the ground, creating a big hole as Camol was no longer conscious.

"Camol is unable to battle! Leafy wins! Drew, please choose your next Pokémon."

I realized what Disc was going for: Letting his opponents put down their guard and striking at the right timing. It clearly worked out in his favor for this battle.

"Camol, return! Avenge your teammate, Shroom!" He then sent out a mushroom-like Pokémon.

"Leafy, nice job! Take a quick rest." Disc said as he returned his Ivysaur and took out another Pokéball, "Let's win this, Ghoul!"

He threw his Pokéball and a creepy-looking Pokémon with gemstone-like eyes appeared in the battlefield as it raised its arms up and down like a zombie.

As the battle began, Drew was desperate to command first, "Shroom, use Stun Spore on Ghoul, then use Absorb!" Shroom released a sparkling yellow powder towards Ghoul, which Ghoul was able to dodge, but Shroom took the opportunity torelease a red beam from the hole on its head at its busy opponent. Upon getting hit, Ghoul's body glowed red as energy was absorbed from Ghoul to Shroom. However, Ghoul maintained its composure and kept battling.

"Ghoul, use Night Shade, then Knock Off!" Ghoul created a mirage that terrified Shroom, and dashed in and gave it a powerful scratch with its claws, which were glowing with a dark aura before it recovered from Night Shade.

The country boy did not plan to give up just yet, "Bullet Seed!"

"Ghoul, detect its weak spot using Foresight before countering with Knock Off!" As Shroom released four seeds towards Disc's Pokémon, it blinked its eyes and seemed to be scanning Shroom's weak spot. Despite taking the hits from the seeds, it rushed in to make its counter move and scratched Shroom on its right side, causing its opponent to wince in pain.

"Shroom, finish off with Mega Drain!"

"Ghoul, counter with Fury Swipes!"

Shroom was desperate to sap more energy from Ghoul, while Ghoul ignored the pain and dashed towards the mushroom-like Pokémon, and repeatedly slashed it with its claws. Both Pokémon were unable to withstand the damage and collapsed onto the ground, unable to battle.

"Both Pokémon are unable to battle! This battle is a tie! The winner of the match is Disc from Pallet Town!"

Yup, he definitely trained very hard.

After what felt like forever, the group stages matches finally ended. I was able to actually defeat all my opponents in my group, so I was fairly certain about moving on to the next round. The moment the results were out, trainers rushed in to take a look if they proceeded to the later matches. Some did not, probably due to knowing they had zero chance to pass the group stages. I took a look as well, and was relieved to know that I was in the quarter-finals along with Harry and Disc.

I suppose my next opponent is Regis Furaito from Fortree City. Based on his battles, his main Pokémon is Swellow, and from what I could see, he is heavily focused on using Flying type moves. I wonder if I can defeat him...

The next set of matches will be in an hour. Without wasting much time, my Pokémon and I rushed to a restaurant to have lunch while taking a good rest before returning to the waiting room to register for my next match.

It's gonna be a long day.

Lows' Pokémon Team:

Surfer (Squirtle, Male) Jolly Nature, moves: Withdraw, Growl, Bubble, Water Gun

Ziggs (Zigzagoon, Male) Naive Nature, moves: Tackle, Growl, Headbutt, Rock Smash

Grace (Ralts, Female) Calm Nature, moves: Growl, Confusion, Double Team, Psybeam

Woody (Treecko, Male) Lonely Nature, moves: Pound, Quick Attack, Bullet Seed