The audience was in a daze at the arrival of four legendary existences appearing in the midst of the semifinal selections. However, the announcement that followed sent them into an uproar of both indignation and excitement.
The thought that someone had brought shame to their existence as ‘travelers’ as a whole and disgraced them all in front of the entire Pokémon world, ignited a blazing fury within the hearts of every player in the stands and watching live at home. The game had been out for such a short time and already it looked like someone was trying to ruin it for everyone.
What many didn’t realize, is that this was extremely common in almost every game. It was only when you brought VR into the mix and had it capture the hearts of the whole world, that it brought this issue into the mainstream. If it weren’t for the following announcement and the lack of any severe consequences, it was likely that the media could’ve gone on about this for weeks and dragged the offenders name through the mud.
Battle Royale. A very niche and relatively unknown play style from a region with one of the smallest player bases. The declaration that the next matches would be settled with a four person free-for-all as recompense for a sole person’s fault sparked hope and reignited passion in the downcast audience.
With righteous fury, cheers for all three separate competitors erupted from the stands as the whole stadium roared, stomped, and demanded them to send the offender packing. Even in the real world, shouts and curses were heard from nearly every bar and home as those watching the stream did the same.
•••••••••••
Down below atop the stadium stage, three unfriendly gazes bore into the back of one profusely sweating Brock Rumlow. He didn’t think anything could’ve been worse than withstanding the pressure of five Gods, but recieving the glares and hatred of the entire world was starting to crack the stoic facade he’d built after enduring years of both SHIELD’s and Hydra’s intense training.
Honestly, he felt more wronged than anything. There were no rules beforehand about any Pokémon restrictions so how was he supposed to know that in the entire Pokémon world, he possessed the one that could rally everyone against him. If the five Gods hadn’t shown up and explained it all, he might’ve even thought that someone had it out for him.
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The worst thing was the unbridled laughter from a section of the disqualified benches which he knew held a certain archer. His face twitched every time it paused, only to mock him, before continuing. Oh, he couldn’t wait until the day Hydra took over SHIELD and he wiped that smug grin off his face.
“I can’t help but say that I’m disappointed in you Brock,” came the voice of the second most annoying person on stage at the moment. “To think one of our own would stoop so low as to shame us all in front of every resident of this new world.”
The man turned around to see Captain America shaking his head at him with sad eyes. He grit his teeth in anger and was about to retort before he was interrupted by easily the biggest annoyance to make it to the finals.
*sigh* “You might not know this old man, what with all your time spent as a capsicle, but our world’s full of people like him nowadays,” Tony Stark gave his two cents while adopting the same ‘sad’ look as the soldier. “A shame that even a respectable agency such as yours has one in their midst. It’s a good thing I turned down the cyclop’s offer of joining that little boy band, I couldn’t imagine being sent out with such a person.”
The third semi-finalist watched this exchange with wide eyes as the words of Tony Stark sparked a memory within her young genius mind. She then proceeded to stare at the tall blonde man with awe and recognition as the announcer walked on stage.
Rumlow was about to snap at the billionaire about how he didn’t turn down anything but was in fact rejected from the start, before he was once again interrupted, this time by the emcee.
“Competitors!” The man boomed into his mic and paused for the audience to settle before continuing, “and all of you watching both here and at home! As Arceus has stated, this next match will be a Battle Royale!”
The crowd erupted into cheers and the man waved his hand for a few moments before proceeding, “Since some of you might not be familiar with this style of battle, I will briefly go over the rules while we wait for our contestants to get into position.”
He motioned for the four to take their places as the arena floor lit up with four different colors, one in each section, “Each combatant will reside on a single corner of the ring; that being, red, blue, yellow, or green.
They will each be able to select three Pokémon for this battle and can attack any opponent they wish, however no more than one Pokémon may be sent out at a time. Substitutions and teamwork with others are allowed, while items or other forms of outside support are not.
As soon as a contestant’s three Pokémon are unable to battle, they will be disqualified with the last two left standing by the end of the match being declared as our finalists!”
More cheers erupted from the stands as the crowd were excited to watch this unique style of battling. The announcer swiveled his head around the stadium to take it all in and smiled after seeing the competitors standing in their respective locations.
He raised his arms up in the air as his circular platform floated up from the center of the arena floor and the stadium grew louder in anticipation. The silver haired announcer soaked it all in with a grin, the cheers shaking the air and reverberating off his very bones, before bringing the mic down to his lips and roaring, “NOW! LET THE BAATTLEEEE~ BEGIN!”