Chapter 37- Tournament: Qualifiers

Early in the morning, one of the numerous battle facilities of Battle Central was full to the brim. Trainers of all kinds filtered in checked their piece of paper, then resumed their with a much more uncertain expression. It would have been funnier if I didn’t do the same thing minutes earlier.

As it turned out, the qualifier rounds were split into different venues to ensure that everything could be done in one day. The different venues had multiple battlefields and were constantly communicating between themselves. While I would have loved to think deeper on that I was busy studying the competition.

Most of the people present were trainers that I might have to battle. Since these were only the qualifiers, there wasn’t much audience. After all, what would be the point of coming and seeing some trainers fight while most of them will be eliminated? That wasn’t to say that there weren’t any since trainers had some acquaintances who wanted to support them. Since Nana was busy with the contest, I ended up with Pops while Mathew accompanied Sera.

As luck would have it, I knew no one in my little cup. Both Sera and Arnold, who were the only ones I cared about really, ended up in the same center while I was alone. That was a bummer and I could only hope that they wouldn’t knock themselves out without me, I really wanted to battle both of them if possible.

At 9 AM on the dot, the doors that until now, had occasional late trainer passing through were shot closed and locked. If some trainers registered but were late to show up and wanted to come in, well too bad for them. I would argue that this was the first round of disqualification but no one asked for my opinion.

I stifled a yawn as I thought about the night before. I had a hard time falling asleep after coming back from the little shopping spree we had. First, my Pokemon were a bit too excited with their new items and wanted to try them out. But in the end, only Nike got the chance too, and not because of favoritism. Tyr was banned from training, Tiamat had to pick a freaking Life Orb which I had no intention of trying to avoid issues, and Skoll chose a training item so the short-term effect was null.

He did pout until I let him wear it, but he had to sit still. I think he treated it more like a plushy than its intended purpose… Anyway, let's just say that the people who were in the fields of the hotel had an entire concert performed by a single Pokemon. Nike used Disarming Voice so much that I started to worry about her throat being sore for today. The Fairy Feather quickly became her favorite Item she ever had. Especially since it didn’t break like the Fire Gem she used back in Virbank.

Speaking of Nike she was currently in her ball like the rest of my team. Some trainers had their Pokemon out by their sides but most of them opted to do the same as me. While we didn’t know who we would face yet, seeing what Pokemon you have still gave the others the advantage of having an idea of what to expect. Especially for people like me who had uncommon Pokemon in Unova, even after the introduction of the foreign species. But that was a topic for another time.

Even after I managed to calm the team down and did a basic strategic meeting, sleeping was still hard. I was simply too excited and nervous to do so.

Just then, someone finally stepped on the raised platform with a microphone. It was a man wearing a chic suit of yellow and blue, the main colors of the Nimbasa gym thus showing his affiliation. Next to him on either side were two nurses standing prim and proper with their hands clasped in front of them. Then came the obvious four referees, two on each side, wearing a black and white striped uniform. It took a few seconds for everyone to notice them and for the chatter to die down.

“Welcome young sparks to the beginner yearly tournament of Nimbasa! My name is John Alot, but I also go by Jolt so feel free to refer to me as such!” he said with a powerful wink that I could swear produced actual sparks.

This pun did serve to break the tension of the nervous trainers and even earn him a few chuckles from the gathered youth. Me included. I love me some good puns.

“Well then, let’s get right into the subject matter. Allow me to repeat the rules for our qualifiers round first and foremost. The actual tournament will only begin when we have 32 trainers left. There are four battle facilities used for the occasion so each one will see the young trainers battle until 8 of you remain.” Murmurs rose in the audience but Jolt continued without faltering.

“How we proceed for the elimination is simple! We will have you battle each other. Matches will be fought with only one Pokemon each. If your Pokemon is knocked out, it is your loss. If you lose two matches, you will be eliminated. That means that each of you only has two defeats before being eliminated! These lovely ladies at my side will ensure that your Pokemon are in fighting shape. You are allowed to have them heal your Pokemon between your different battles but be aware that everyone will want theirs too, so if you fear that you will not have enough time, feel free to use potions as you see fit. Booths are available in case you do not have enough supplies on you and are at a discounted price.”

That also drew a reaction since that would mean that richer trainers had an advantage from the start but there wasn’t anything I could do on that. Maybe it was hypocritical since I currently had enough and I still had most of the potion I bought since I tend to use berries more often.

“Do not worry, the discount is significant enough to make the difference. Champion Elesa essentially covers 95% of the cost.” Jolt added with a smile. “ Do you have any questions?”

I frowned but a trainer was faster than me and raised her hand “How do we know who we are fighting?”

“Oh Silly me! I forgot!” He said in a tone that clearly stated that he was waiting for that question. “You were each assigned a number when you got in correct? Make sure you all have your badge visible and pay attention to the central screen, please.”

I looked down at the round badge with the number 7 inscribed on it. The black number stood out from the white background making it very clear which one you got. Looking up. A bunch of numbered cards gathered and shuffled around in a chaotic pattern. Each one had a number inscribed on it, going from 1 to 36. It wasn’t hard to determine their purpose when they paired in groups of two.

“Looks like we have a pair number here which makes things nice and even. As you can see you each have your opponent based on your number. You will also notice that the 4 first pair have a number below them. They represent your battlefield so I would ask you to move to the field behind me. the four other people next to me will be your referee.”

“With all that being said, let the yearly tournament BEGIN!”

Looking back up at the screen, I was, unfortunately, or fortunately, one of the first eight trainers. Assigned to the field number 4 of all things.

“Wish me luck,” I whispered to Pops as I stepped through the crowd.

“Break a leg kiddo.”

The fields were set up so that while they were visible from one another, the distance was still enough so that there wouldn’t be any interference from the other battles. I was also surprised to see 4 different Reuniclus next to the referees. That was a surprise for a tournament at this level but who am I to argue allocation of resources?

Opposite me, a young and fidgety guy stood nervously while grasping and releasing the Pokeball in his hand.

“This battle will be a 1 vs 1 between number 21 and number 7. The battle will end when one of the two contenders Pokemon will be rendered unable to battle. Be ready to send your chosen Pokemon in 3,2,1, Start.”

With the signal given, two capsules flew over the field. two shapes covered in white materialized on the field while the capsule returned to my hand. The light dissipated revealing an all too eager Skoll on my side and a paler look on my opponent as a Sandile appeared on the field. And, honestly? That was a fair reaction. Beginning the tournament with a type disadvantage was never unlucky. Too bad my own skin was on the line.

“Quick Attack!” I decided to go on the offensive.

My opponent to his credit reacted even if it was too late as Skoll used the momentum to punch the ground type. “ Dig!”

That would have been annoying if I didn’t have the perfect counter for it. “Detect then Brick Break”

That was all Skoll needed and I kind of felt bad for the Pokemon in front of my fighting type. In all appearance, our match seemed to be on hold with the only Pokemon standing in the field motionless. That, however, could not be farther from the truth. Skoll was focused on sensing the aura around him to improve the precognitive-like ability of the move.

Inevitably, the Ground type had to surface to attack. The ground bellow Skoll opened and the Sandile came out of it, maw snapping around thin air only. Skoll expertly side-stepped the attack just before it happened and by now his fist was glowed in the orangish tint of fighting type energy. Said fist immediately made contact with the Sandile as it was sent flying back toward its trainer. It Skidded to a stop, claws grasping at the ground to stabilize itself.

Before I could give the next command, the ground and dark type collapsed to the ground and lay unconscious. I stood there stupefied at the ending until the referee called the match.

“Sandile is unable to battle. The victory goes to number 7.” Looking up, the card with the number 21 was surrounded by a red highlight signifying that one more loss and they were out. Mine stayed fully white.

I watched as the red beam recalled the fainted Pokemon and gave a slight nod to my opponent. My head was still reeling from the fight. It was… too fast. Skoll seemed to share my opinion with me and looked kind of displeased. I couldn’t blame him since the fight was decided in two moves from him. we walked off toward Pops as the arena was quickly restored to its pristine state by a Seismitoad.

“I can already see that you are questioning why it felt too easy.” Pops sounded amused. “Well, think about it. The tournament has people who have badges from 1 to 4 so it makes sense that there would be a disparity in level.”

I looked at him still unconvinced. Even if there were people with fewer badges, I was still surprised that it went so fast. But then again, what he said made sense maybe? Or it was a matter of luck. Either way, I was under no illusion that the next match would be this easy. I would at some point fight someone stronger for sure. For now, I kept Skoll at my side since people probably saw him already, and had him rest by my side.

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Looking at the match going on, the level was admittedly lower than I had expected. Trainers fumbling their orders, leaving openings for their opponents instead of pushing the advantage, or even Pokemon ignoring their trainer’s order in some instances. It was an eye-opener that what I considered the basics had others struggling to grasp them. That wasn’t to say that there weren’t skilled trainers. There were a couple that caught my eye, actually.

One trainer had an Axew that was mowing through the competition by relying on its advantage as a dragon.

There was also a particularly fast Sneasel running circles around its opponents. The dual Dark and Ice was already fast enough, and combined with its trainer's clever use of Hone Claws I was one I kept an eye on.

Another trainer had his Boldore hunkering with Iron Defense before using Body Press to its fullest. He however lost one fight against a feisty Drilbur that took it down before it could set up. Definitely needed to look out for those.

But the most frightening was a girl, number 34, who annihilated her opponent with a Ferrothorn of all Pokemon. While it was a lumbering adversary it made it up with its stupidly high defense. The reason I took particular notice of her was that I would need to rely on Nike. Those spikes were no joke so having Skoll attack would damage him as well. Plus roasting it would make it quite easy.

On the more ‘exotic’ sides of Pokemon, there was a trainer with a Noibat and another with a Nincada. I even spotted a Rockruff and more surprisingly, a Clefairy. It was one of the rarer Pokemon in its original region, let alone all the way here. It was definitely interesting to see so many Pokemon.

By the time my second battle was called, I returned Skoll after he got bored of sitting around doing nothing. which, admittedly didn’t take him long. Anyway, I unfortunately didn’t remember the Pokemon that my opponent used and given that their card was highlighted in red, they already lost their first battle. That also explained their nervousness.

“This battle will be a 1 vs 1 between number 11 and number 7. The battle will end when one of the two contenders Pokemon will be rendered unable to battle. Be ready to send your chosen Pokemon in 3,2,1, Start.”

Once more, I sent out Skoll’s Pokeball. Since he was the most battle addicted of my team and was also fresh from the previous battle, there was no need to change him. I could keep my other Pokemon hidden for now.

At least that’s what I thought until my opponent Pokemon appeared, revealing a beige, spinning doll on the opposite side and a smile on the girl’s face.

“I’m not done yet.’ She said loud enough for me to hear it.

“I wouldn’t say so this early,” I retorted.

Truth be told, it was going to be hard since the Baltoy opposite Skoll had the type advantage. But I wasn’t worried because Skoll had what he needed to deal with the opponent’s typing, the only problem being that they were moves we weren’t fully proficient in. Still, there was nothing to it other than try our best.

“Let’s go Baltoy, finish quickly with Extrasensory!”

Well, shit.

“Quick Attack! To the side!” I shouted.

And not a second sooner since as soon as Skoll dashed to the side, the space where he had previously stood started to contort as several bubbles of psychic energy collapsed at different speeds. That was a really nasty move that I was glad we managed to dodge.

“Use Ice Punch,” I told him.

The only problem with that order was that Skoll visibly slowed while using the move. He had already dropped the Quick Attack after the evade, but his run around the arena slowed noticeably.

“Don’t let them. Use Psybeam!”

The detached head of the doll had been following Skoll since he ran, regardless of the spinning of the body. On top of the horn-like protrusion on its head, psychic energy gathered before shooting toward the running fighting type repeatedly. Due to being slowed down, he only managed to dodge the first couple of beams before the third one nailed it. I winced as I knew that it probably did a lot of damage. Even if Nike’s was visibly stronger and he was used to that, it couldn’t have been pleasant.

Thankfully he still managed to use the move and while the beam sent him flying, he righted himself before dashing toward his target. By now, both fists were covered in an icy blue aura that radiated coldness.

“Don’t let them get close, keep firing!”

What followed was an obstacle course where Skoll tried to close the distance while his opponent kept floating away and firing like a mobile turret. Too bad that between maintaining a single move actively and using several moves, the latter was more resource-intensive. While Baltoy didn’t really breathe, mental fatigue, even more so when you were spamming a psychic type move.

As soon as Skoll managed to close the distance, he slammed fist after fist against the hardened clay that served as a body for the psychic type. He only disengaged after the train regained his spirit and ordered for a Rapid Spin. With a nimble backflip, he managed to extricate himself from the spinning top that the Pokemon turned into. By now he was panting heavily and the Baltoy’s body also spun significantly slower than before.

“Hang in there! Finish it with Psybeam! Give everything you’ve got!” she shouted with more vigor and desperation.

As for me, I remembered one advice that I was given. “Block it with Bullet Punch! Show them what you got!”

It was definitely a gamble, but one I was confident in winning. If she had used another move I would have preferred to use Detect and have him rush afterward, but with the continuous beam instead trying to tank the blow was the best option. My only hope was that the interaction between Steel and Psychic energy gave him enough protection.

At the moment of impact, Skoll shouted and anchored his feet to the ground, bringing his hands together on the trajectory of the psychic beam. Making contact with the metal-coated paws, the beam scattered in all directions, drawing the gaze of spectators as the stray remnants were intercepted by the barrier. Skoll’s shout intensified as more and more of the beam was deflected. Finally, the Baltoy ran out of juice, leaving Skoll’s fist steaming and the furrow on the ground where he was pushed back.

“Now, rush them with Quick Attack!”

“Dodge! “

Before her Pokemon could react, Skoll had already closed the distance between them. His proficiency with the move was impressive and he showcased it once again. instead of punching his opponent, he opted to ram straight into them, sending the spinning frame away. The spinning of the body finally stopped, even if the Pokemon refused to fall to the ground due to the nature of their body.

“Baltoy is unable to battle. The victory goes to number 7.” The referee announced.

This time, instead of the border of the card changing colors, the whole card turned a decrepit grey. I couldn’t stop myself from sighing in relief at the victory. It had honestly been way too close for comfort. I watched as the red beam returned the still-standing Baltoy and met the trainer’s eye. Where I was expecting a bit of anger and deception, there was only acceptance and determination. At least she wasn’t demoralized by the disqualification. but that fight was definitely more interesting than the first one. That didn’t mean I wanted similar battles, however.

Looking down at Skoll’s I took in the entirety of the damage he sustained. His paws, in particular, were beat up. Tanking the move with the steel type energy coating them lessened the damage taken but couldn’t nullify it completely. The result was that his palms were now bloodied. I quickly fished out a Potion from my backpack and sprayed it over the wound. Neither the pain of the injury nor the sting of the solution was enough to wipe the smile off of his face so I guessed he didn’t mind.

“You did well buddy! Let’s get you fully healed up and see if you can fight the next battle alright?” I patted his head and the fighting type nodded tiredly. He definitely needed rest for now.

Walking toward where the Nurses were stationed, I was surprised by the queue. For a room with a bit over 30 people, the queue was surprisingly long. My guess was that most of those who weren’t fighting were lined up here. Thankfully it moved surprisingly quickly. I kept my eyes on the screen above just to make sure that I wasn’t called for another battle while I was lined up. After a few more minutes I was in front of the nurse, tray already on the counter and Audino at the ready. Once I deposited my Pokeball they put a sticker with the number seven on top.

“Please wait close by, we will call your number once we are done.” She commented automatically with a smile.

It reminded me of some fast food which was a weird thought to have. regardless, there was nothing more to do aside from waiting and maybe talking to a few trainers.

***

Mu had been sweating profusely ever since she was released from the cell she had been forced to share. After their failed mission, she was already expecting the worst. Failures were rarely, if ever, tolerated. To make matters worse, the fact that they sent Claude didn’t bode well for them. She didn’t know much about the man, aside from the fact that he was one of the higher-ups of the organization. His amiable smile did nothing to reassure her either.

Once they were brought to a lab after covering their tracks, her mind had already conjured a hell of experiments that would conducted with her as a subject. She found herself wanting to swallow several times only for it to fail since she was sweating so much she doubted her body had any water to spare. Until the bald scientific turned around.

“So tell me of the result from the trial,” He asked excitedly, leaning forward from his chair.

The enthusiasm from his voice relieved her, only for the despair to engulf her once more as she realized that she would be the one to break the bad news to him. If even the organization was wary of informing him, what would her fate be?

She swallowed her saliva once more. Thankfully her teammate for the occasion was just an idiot.

“Well, sir-”

“Hush you. You like too many brain cells to address me.” The voice oozed disinterest as the eyes behind the goggles fixed her.

She cursed before answering. “Unfortunately we weren’t able to retrieve the target because-”

“Why would I care about that?” she was interrupted once more and irritation filtered through. “ Tell me about the tracking girl! Don’t tell me you are also an idiot!”

Tracking? Ah!

“No sir. The tracking was accurate. A closer study found remnant energy 500 meters south of the coordinate. It took us a few days to locate the target and by the time we did a…third party interfered” she spoke as if the air was being squeezed out of her lungs.

Still, she took care not to mention the child. She wasn’t an idiot she knew that mentioning such a failure was a synonym to sign her death warrant. Something she was proven right in the next few minutes as a deranged cackle filled the air at first.

“I knew it! my calculations were correct! I knew it! Now I will show that stuck-up woman what she forsook when I gave her the chance to help me in my research!”

After the outburst, the room was silent if one ignored the mad laughter resounding through the white walls of the lab. Until the idiots broke down.

“Sir please give me one chance. I can definitely catch that child and bring you the target!”

She wanted to curse at the fool. Even if he was under pressure he basically admitted something that the mad professor didn’t seem to care about briefly.

“A child?” His laughter died down immediately. “You are telling me that the reason I do not have a live specimen is because you failed to… a child?”

Mu wanted to step back, away from the man in front of her, but the two guards positioned themselves behind them, blocking their escape. She cursed for the umptieth time at the fool, going up and down his family tree.

A snap of a finger made her body shiver and drew her attention. “I changed my mind. Tell me what happened.”

What followed was an excruciating recounting of their mission, detail by detail. From their arrival at the spot of the detected anomaly to the realization that they were off target and even the random Golurk that flew over them at some point. Finally came the part of the failed capture. Here she had to leave most of the talking to the idiot since, from what she was told, she was drained by a ghost.

“And why didn’t you release your tools to outnumber them?” the professor asked after the idiot was done.

“Well sir, I couldn’t due to their clash with Druddigon earlier that day. The dragon proved unpredictable and attacked one of them while were looking for clues.” She recounted while shifting as much responsibility as she could.

She saw the face of the idiot grow paler but nothing she had said was a lie. She had worked hard to properly control her Dieno, only for it to be attacked by the Druddigon while they were looking for clues on the Dewott’s location. The professor’s gaze panned to the now kneeling man at her side.

“I see... it seemed the Pokemon we gifted you is not being used efficiently. Fret not! Boys bring him to the specialized training center,” he said, back to a jovial tone.

The two guards who previously stood motionless picked the mountain of a man like he was a toddler before dragging him to one of the doors. She wasn’t sure, but her instinct screamed at her that whatever specialized training he would receive, she wanted nothing to do with it.

“Now, you are not blameless, but you at least performed the best you could. Follow me!”

She silently thanked her lucky star that she had the foresight to highlight her action of knocking the trainer out. Then she prayed to it once more that whatever fate awaited her was more pleasant than the idiot’s.

***

In the end, it took three more rounds of battles before only 8 trainers were left. my third match was more in the line of first given that my opponent didn’t put up much of a fight. Granted defeating Tiamat with a Klink was a hard task. After that, I retrieved Skoll’s ball and the two of them proceeded to win me the other two matches.

The trainer with the Boldore seemed to have come with only one strategy prepared so Tiamat was able to bring it down thanks to a repeated use of Bulldoze. Even if she did not manage to win scot-free, it was a victory nonetheless.

As for Skoll, his lack of long-distance attack almost came back to bite us as we faced the trainer with the Noibat. At first, the use of Quick Attack and Ice Puch was enough to tilt the balance in our favor but once they noticed that we only went for physical attacks, they remained at the distance. The only reason we managed to win was thanks to a combination of Protect and Detect to prevent them from landing hits. It was no doubt an incredibly frustrating situation for the guy opposite me, but I wasn’t willing to take the risk of losing. In the end, the 4 times weakness of the Noibat to the ice type allowed us to win the match.

It was when I was lining up to heal Skoll that the announcement was made.

“Ladies and Gentlemen! I have the pleasure to announce to you that we have our eight qualified trainers! Please take a look at the screen!”

Sure enough, only eight cards remained on the screen and they quickly moved, pushing the greyed-out cards away. Of the 8 cards, only three remained solidly with with the 5 others having the red border signifying you lost one match. there was obviously mine, number 7, the girl with the Ferrothorn, number 34, and number 5. I honestly found myself sighing in relief that I didn’t have to face that Ferrothorn.

“Now that we have our 8 participants allow me to explain the next step. The 8 of them have officially stepped into the top 32! Tomorrow will be our battle to find which of our trainers will reach the top 16 of the entire tournament! The battles will take place tomorrow morning while the afternoon will be for the advanced tournament!”

“The following day will see finding out who will be the top 4 with our semi final before finally, two days from now, will be the Final of our yearly tournament. However, keep your eyes peeled since we will have an exhibition match in the afternoon!”

“And with that, promising trainers, I tell you all, see you TO!MO!RROOW!”

As the final shout of Jolt resounded, the line in front of me unraveled, most deciding to head for a Pokemon center.

“Well done kiddo! I knew you were going to pass.” Pops said with a smile.

“Thanks Pops. Now I only have to check on the others.”

Groupe Chat: Unovan Stars

Arnold, Sera, You.

You [01:35 pm]: I’m in!

Sera [01: 57 pm]: So am I!

Arnold [01: 57 pm]: me too.

You [02:00 pm]: Noice! Be ready to lose though.

I logged out after sending the last text while snickering to myself. This tournament promised to be very interesting.