Chương 60: Chapter 58

Whimsicott hummed happily as I walked down the main road of Ever Grande City. Jude's Alakazam had just teleported us here, and now I was heading towards the large dome that served as a Pokémon Center. Ever Grande City hosted both the headquarters of the Hoenn branch of the Pokémon League, and the Ever Grande Conference.

The city was a collection of large but infrequent buildings, several apartment complexes and personal houses for competing trainers, large sections set aside for battlefields, and a few enormous stadiums. There was a main road that went towards the Pokémon Center, and in the distance, there was a large waterfall that led to the main Hoenn Pokémon League headquarters that overlooked the city itself.

Each building was painted with colorful hues, and there were a number of banners and flags displaying the main colors of each Pokémon Type. There were a few signs and posters set up as well that advertised restaurants that would be opening when the conference began. In terms of the number of people present, there weren't actually that many right now. I had arrived a little early, on January 31st, so everything was still being set up.

Tomorrow, the majority of trainers would arrive and the non-trainer audience would begin to trickle in. Ever Grande City was normally mostly empty and solely supported the few League workers and Ace Trainers that lived here, but with the effective national holiday of the Conference around the corner, the population would soon skyrocket. Despite a number of stalls being set up, I didn't see what was being sold just yet.

Starting tomorrow, there would be a number of stalls and booths selling exclusive merchandise and trainer gear, as well as a few different activities trainers could go to. The Ever Grande Conference wasn't just a tournament, there were also a few events running alongside it like unofficial tournaments run by various companies for the trainers that got knocked out early, and a contest that would award a ribbon for the next Grand Festival early.

For those less battle-inclined, there would also be the classic games and booths like those I had seen in the festival in Fortree, and a large variety of fair foods to try out. I had a few days to enjoy myself, but I needed to register first. I entered the large domed main Pokémon Center. The ceiling was glass and the front half was almost completely open, giving plenty of space for trainers to sit around.

It had two rectangular wings off to the sides that would contain the rooms for trainers to stay in for the duration of the Conference. Above a semi-circle counter that served as a reception were several large screens that were currently displaying a still image of the League's logo. I approached one of the nurses at the front counter. There were currently three of them sitting there, working on their computers, and they all had the dyed pink hair that was reminiscent of Nurse Joys'.

However, none of the ones present seemed to carry that title. As the Conference wouldn't start until tomorrow, there were only a handful of trainers in the room so I didn't have to wait.

"Hello, I'm here to register for the Conference," I said.

"Okay. I can get you set up," the nurse said while giving me a bright customer-service smile.

"Can you provide me your trainer ID and your badges?" I nodded and took out what she requested, and out of the corner of my eye I saw Whimsicott eye them mischievously. I shot him a quick glare that put the prank in the ground before he could go through with it, and handed them over. The nurse took the items from me and entered my trainer ID number into her computer, then proceeded to begin scanning the back of each of my badges with a handheld scanner.

"We need to make sure the badges are legitimate. While our database already confirmed you beat all eight Gyms, it's tradition to go over each one individually," she explained. Whimsicott and I watched as a red light illuminated the plain metal back of each of my badges. As far as I could tell, they were just normal metal pins when I had received them, but the light let me make out a faint engraving of a serial number in the center of each one.

"Each badge has its own ID number," the nurse continued.

"It's not super necessary, but it does help to confirm your identity when they all match what's listed on my screen."

"Wait, what happens if a trainer is missing a badge, or if the badge has the wrong ID number?" I asked.

"Well, we check with the trainer who should have had the actual badge in case there was a mixup, which happens sometimes. Otherwise, if a badge is missing or the number isn't registered in the database, we send a request to the appropriate Gym to check their local records to make sure the trainer actually beat the Gym. Sometimes the proper records slip through, but we tend to give people the benefit of the doubt and approve their registration anyway.

Problems only start if there's two or three badges that are questionable." She finished scanning the rest of my badges, and handed them back to me, then finished the process by swiping my ID in a machine attached to her computer before giving it back to me as well. At the same time, I noticed that one of the screens above the counter switched from its default logo to display my name, place of origin, and sponsors.

There was a section for known Pokémon as well, listing Florges, Mawile, and Altaria, the only Pokémon that had been in a tournament in any official capacity. It might be worthwhile to stay in the Pokémon Center for a while in the future to get a glimpse of who's registering. I could get an idea of what the average competitor is like.

"It's good that you registered so early. I managed to put you in a room on the top floor. The view is very pretty," the nurse said.

"It'll be much more packed the next few days once trainers start showing up to register. We've seen numbers as low as 500, and as high as 1000, which doesn't even account for the thousands of people visiting just to watch.

"Anyway, your trainer ID will act as a key to your room, and will also be the only way to log onto the provided computer if you want to take notes. Congratulations on making it so far, and good luck in the tournament!" I thanked the nurse and turned to head out, wanting to return to my room to check out the view. However as I did so, a familiar voice caught my attention.

"Alex? I didn't expect to see you here this early." I turned towards the man who just said that, and smiled as I recognized my friend. He wasn't wearing his Ace Trainer uniform, but was back to his black coat and was still wearing his dark glasses. Umbreon was standing next to him at his feet, somehow looking relaxed and annoyed at the same time.

"It's nice to see you again, Thomas," I said as I approached.

"How are things going?" He grimaced.

"It's been a strange season, I'll tell you that," he said. Thomas leaned in to get close, and spoke in a hushed tone.

"You already know I was stationed at the Weather Institute, but I didn't tell you that we had to defend it from Team Magma at the same time TV Mauville was under attack. I was then sent to Lavaridge under thinly disguised orders to protect it from Team Magma, and spent practically all of my time there until after the Kyogre incident." He sighed at the memory.

"By the way, we aren't supposed to spread it around, but I did learn what happened with Courtney. You did a good job, holding her off for so long." I smiled at the compliment, even though the memory of getting bit by a Mightyena and fighting for my life wasn't that fun.

"It wasn't really me, it was my Pokémon. They put in a lot of work to fight together, and I barely gave them any orders at all. Honestly, all the tutoring you gave us about battling without constant, direct orders probably helped us the most. I should be thanking you." Thomas chuckled and took a step back now that we weren't talking about secrets.

"Anyway, I was heading here to register. Do you have anything planned? I've been around Ever Grande a few times during my training as an Ace Trainer, so I know a few different good restaurants. It'd be nice to catch up. I see you have a new team member, too." Whimsicott waved at Thomas from where he was sitting on my shoulder, and Thomas suddenly frowned and shook his head.

"Hah," he breathed out.

"I bet Alex hadn't told you about me. I specialize in Dark Types, a simple prank like that won't work on me." I raised my eyebrow and glanced over to Whimsicott, who looked a bit sheepish. Thomas reached behind him and pulled off a large clump of loose cotton from his back, presumably from the prank Whimsicott was planning.

"Huh. I didn't expect it to be some of your cotton. What was your goal, anyway?" Whimsicott pointed to his fluffy cotton, then pointed to Thomas's head, and giggled. Thomas took a few moments to figure out what Whimsicott meant, then chuckled when he realized Whimsicott's plan.

"A wig, then," Thomas said.

"Come on, there's a restaurant most Ace Trainers in Ever Grande eat at. They have a real Pokémon Chef. That is, a Chef who makes food for Pokémon, and not a Pokémon who is a Chef." I found a nice padded armchair in the Pokémon Center to sit and wait while Thomas went to the counter to register for the Conference. As he did so, the information for him that appeared on the central screen made me blink a few times. First, Thomas had earned 24 badges total.

If that included Hoenn, that meant he had participated in two Conferences before this one. Next, it listed the League itself as his sponsor, and it also showed off all of the Pokémon he had caught. Outside of the familiar Umbreon, Mightyena, Houndoom, Murkrow, and Crawdaunt, Thomas also had a Weavile, Pawniard, and Pupitar. It seemed that he had obtained his planned Larvitar early.

"Congratulations on obtaining a Pupitar, by the way," I said to Thomas after we met back up to leave the Pokémon Center.

"You must have evolved it fast, to have it in its second stage."

"That's because I didn't evolve it," Thomas replied.

"The League knew that I was seeking to obtain a Tyranitar, and after another Ace Trainer passed away, it was granted to me. He's still recovering from the loss of his partner, but I'm making sure he gets the care he deserves." There was a moment of silence as I took that in.

"... Oh. I'm sorry to hear that."

"It's... it's something you have to get used to as an Ace Trainer. Sometimes an aggressive wild Pokémon is stronger than you expect, or sometimes a criminal attacks you in the middle of battle. There's always going to be risks, and part of our training is working to minimize them." We walked in silence to the restaurant as I considered his words, the mood dampened by the serious topic of the conversation.

It lightened up a bit after we sat down in the restaurant, which was one of the few that stayed open year round for the Ace Trainers. Thomas kindly paid some extra money to get a private room in the back, and we sent out our numerous Pokémon to eat with us. There was one especially humorous moment where Ninetales was chowing down a bit too voraciously and spilt her food all over herself, and to make up for that, I ended up buying her an extra large helping of Aspear Ice Cream for dessert.

Thomas and I chatted and told tales about various things that happened to us in the last months of the season. He didn't do much since he was forced to be in Lavaridge, like he said, but he still got days off occasionally that he used to travel around to collect the rest of his Gym Badges. Apparently, he struggled the most with Roxanne who didn't hold back with her personal team as much as she did for trainers earning their first badges. Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit.

Once we finished our meals, we parted ways after wishing each other luck for the rest of the conference. Thomas was still an Ace Trainer in training, and even though he was competing in the Conference itself, he was still on the hook to help keep the peace. It was unlikely he would get too much time off within the next few weeks. The next day, I was walking around the stalls and vendors set up along the main road. It was February first, which meant the Conference had officially started.

However, while the Conference had technically started, it didn't mean League sanctioned battles were happening just yet. The registration period ended on the fourth, which was the first Monday of the month, and the preliminary battles to decide the actual tournament competitors would start that day. Since we had the time, my team and I agreed to spend these few days resting to mentally prepare ourselves for the upcoming tournament. It would be good to relax before everything kicked into gear.

Right now, Florges was currently floating by my side as we looked over the items being offered for sale, but I stopped where we were walking as one vendor's selection caught my eyes. I practically froze as my heart rate increased, and I walked over to see if the items were really what I thought. Reading the placards that named each item confirmed my suspicions, and while they weren't Mega Stones, they were items that were invaluable in competitive play. This is insane. I've never seen these items in person before.

Choice scarves. Choice bands. Life orbs. Leftovers. How can one person be in possession of all of these? These held items were extraordinarily rare, and while I had looked for them in Slateport, I hadn't been able to find them. I was a little unsure how they specifically functioned, but I knew their basic effects in battle. Choice items would force a Pokémon to use only one move in exchange for a massive increase in damage or speed.

Life Orbs empowered a Pokémon's attacks in exchange for taking damage each time they did. Leftovers slowly healed a Pokémon over time. This guy even has Flame Orbs and Toxic Orbs for sale! I never plan on using a Guts or Poison Heal Pokémon, but man, just seeing them in person makes me want to use them. Since this was the first day of the Conference, the vendors' inventory was practically untouched.

The first week of the Conference tended to not get as many tourists as the other weeks, since the battles were less exciting one-on-ones. Because of that, the current items for sale were more targeted towards the competing trainer population, and were likely to be sold out relatively quickly. As much as I wanted to buy all of the rare items I was seeing, the issue with that was that each of them were already ridiculously expensive on their own.

The bounty I received for "beating" Courtney was two million Pokédollars, which was a genuinely massive sum, but not enough to buy everything. That, combined with the sponsorship money I was receiving from Sycamore, meant my savings were only going up, so I could afford to at least buy some of them. However, considering some of these were being valued at a few hundred thousand dollars each, I really didn't want to buy them. Do I really want to drop enough money to pay for a house on a single item?

That Life Orb alone is three hundred thousand dollars, and the next most expensive item is Choice Specs at a hundred-fifty thousand! Those are ridiculous sums, I could get an Eevee for similar amounts! Ugh, I'm not used to being rich. Should I really drop this much money in one place? If it helps me win the tournament, though... As I debated buying one or two of them at least, a trainer walked over and picked up one of the Life Orbs, made his purchase without hesitation, and scoffed when he saw me standing there.

"What are you doing, window shopping?" I glanced to the side to see Winston standing there in his smug glory, looking at me with a deliberately neutral expression. I sighed.

"I recently came into a large sum of money, and I'm debating if I really want to spend it all in one place. Some of these items would be genuinely great for my team, but I'm not sure if they're worth the cost." Winston seemed to be lost in thought for a moment, before asking me a question.

"Which items are you considering?" My face contorted in confusion at his almost friendly tone.

"The Life Orb, Leftovers, and Choice Specs," I said slowly. Winston turned to the salesman and pointed those items out.

"Your prices are much too high. They'll pay two fifty for the sum, no more no less." Both the vendor and I stared at Winston, our mouths gaping.

"T-that's too low! I have a family to feed, do you really want me to make a loss on these items?" the vendor sputtered. Winston scoffed again.

"Please. You're clearly price gouging here, and the price I gave you is more than reasonable. Unless... you specifically raised them to be that high to take advantage of uninformed trainers? If that is the case, I wonder what the League would do if they found out..."

"Fine, two-hundred and fifty thousand. Take them and go," the vendor replied far too quickly. Winston stood at my side as I swiped my trainer ID to pay, and collected my three items. I opened my mouth to question why he would be so helpful, but he spoke up before I could.

"There. Consider this an apology for how rude I was in the past. Now excuse me, I believe I need to train my team's familiarity with the purchases I've made." He moved to walk off as the man behind the stall grumbled. I called out after Winston, to at least get one question that was stuck on my mind.

"Why didn't you haggle for the Life Orb? You knew it was over priced!" He waved his hand dismissively and continued to walk away.

"It was peasant change. My winnings will more than make up what I lost." I was left behind standing in front of the stall as Winston disappeared into the crowd, holding three extremely rare items in my hands. Did that... really just happen? I went ahead and purchased a few gifts and souvenirs for some of my friends, then returned Florges to send out Ninetales to give her a chance to be out, as well.

Despite the city being entirely dedicated to Pokémon trainers, each person was still limited to a single Pokémon out with them at once. Ninetales was overjoyed to see so many people around and so many vendors. She ran ahead in front of me to see what each stall was selling, and while most items didn't catch her attention, I did have to buy her a number of different Pokémon-safe fair foods, in order to prevent myself from dying of how cute the stares she was giving me to beg.

Around us, there were a number of other trainers walking with their Pokémon as well. Since Ever Grande City was almost entirely dedicated to trainers, it was practically encouraged to give your Pokémon a chance to experience everything as well. I saw the classics like Mightyena, Linoone, and Swellow, but I also saw rarer Pokémon like Lairon and even a single Swampert.

We even overheard an arguing Graveler and Rhydon, whose argument ended up intensifying so much that their trainers ended up leaving to let their Pokémon settle the argument on the battlefield. I actually went to follow them out of curiosity, alongside a few others. Soon, I found myself in a large flat space absolutely filled with battlefields. They were arranged like a grid and there had to be at least a hundred.

Most of the fields were occupied by trainers either battling or practicing, and I had to pause to take in the sight. I had genuinely never seen so many active trainers in one place before. Rather than following the pair that led me here, I split off from the group intent on watching their battle to see everything that was going on in the area. The variety of Pokémon on the battlefields far dwarfed the variety I had seen out on the streets before.

Where I saw a small handful of Pokémon uncommon to Hoenn before, now I could see almost every team had a Pokémon like that. There were Fire Types like Magcargo, Rapidash, and Magmar, Bug Types like Pinsir, Heracross, and Scyther, and even the rare Dragon Type like Gabite, Shelgon, and Dragonite. The list went on and on, and I could see a number of trainers using Pokémon introduced to Hoenn from the Aether Foundation's biodiversity efforts. As for familiar faces, I barely saw any that caught my attention.

The only person I saw that I knew was Hope, the Grass Type specialist who had both been in Sea Mauville with me and who had placed in the Lilycove tournament. I half expected to see Wally there, but he wasn't planning to show up until the actual start of the Conference itself. While I had been training in the Weather Institute, Wally had been training in Mossdeep with Tate and Liza.

Regional Gyms closed when the Conference started, so he wanted to make the most of his time to train there while they weren't being hounded to battle by people who procrastinated until the end of the season to face them. Even then, it would be unlikely I would see him much, if at all, simply because once the Conference started, we would each be spending most of our time gathering information, strategizing, and practicing. Both of us would be too busy to hang out.

My musings were interrupted by a loud crash, and I looked over to see where Rhydon and Graveler had been fighting. Somehow, the Graveler had ended up evolving into a Golem, and half the field was now taken up by a mountain of stone. A whistle rang out from above as a few Ace Trainers flew down on their flying Pokémon to figure out what happened, and I tried to figure out what was going on from a distance.

From what I could tell, both trainers let their Pokémon duke it out without orders, and Graveler had evolved in the high-stress environment. It wasn't used to its new power and created an attack that was too large to be used safely, so the Ace Trainers stepped in before anyone other than the Rhydon could get hurt. While there was a group of Psychic Types on standby to create barriers for those who needed them, attacks that large still couldn't be used safely.

Seeing such a large display of power made me pause and consider how powerful my opponents would be in the Conference. Even though I had beaten eight Gyms, the Gym Leaders still intentionally left openings for the perceptive trainer to capitalize on. Here, every trainer would be trying their absolute hardest to win, and I wondered how my team would stack up to their efforts. In the following days I walked around with my Pokémon, watched battles on the practice fields, and relaxed in the Pokémon Center.

When I was in the Pokémon Center, I made sure to focus on reading the information that popped up on the screens for registering trainers, and was shocked to see the vast majority of them only had eight badges. I expected to see more trainers from other regions, but only about a fifth of the trainers I saw had more than eight badges. At the same time, what really caught me off guard were the trainers who hadn't earned any badges at all.

They were even rarer than the experienced trainers, but rather than an "earned badges" section, they had the name of a school listed instead. I ended up approaching one of them to ask, and they told me it was possible for the graduating class of a trainer school to compete in the Conference without taking on any Gyms. Most trainer school graduates didn't bother with the opportunity, citing a lack of practical experience, but some still felt like they were up for the challenge.

In all my research in the past, I had never seen a trainer without any badges make it to the final rounds. I didn't compete in any casual battles with my stronger team members, but I did manage to find a number of trainers who had weaker Pokémon to let Ponyta battle. While the battlefields could only be used by trainers who had registered, there were a number of them who needed to train their weaker Pokémon too, just like that Dwebble trainer in Mossdeep.

Ponyta performed exceptionally well against them, with his Double-Edge and Morning Sun combination letting him deal more damage than expected, and he could even mix in Agility to add momentum to his attacks. The rest of my team relaxed and hung out with me in the meantime. Ninetales liked to walk around the crowds just to be around other people, and Whimsicott was the same.

There were a few public parks with flower gardens that Florges liked to visit, and the rest of my team either just passively stayed near me or watched the training grounds. Mawile mostly watched the trainers on the battlefields, and Altaria sat with me in the Pokémon Center while I watched the screens display new trainer information. The only member of my team that didn't end up enjoying themselves was Azumarill.

She was anxious to battle, and the fact that the tournament was quickly approaching was making her antsy. I ended up getting her to calm down by bringing her around to a few different game booths, like the ones at Fortree's end of the year festival. I found another "test your strength machine," and this time she was actually allowed to hit it after using Belly Drum, adding a large Snorlax beanbag chair to her growing collection of festival prizes that barely fit in my backpack.

Soon, it was closing in on February fourth, and with it the announcement of how the preliminary battles would take place, and I needed to have a discussion with my team.

"We need to talk strategy. And I don't mean in-battle strategy," I said to everyone as we sat in my room the morning of the fourth. The nurse who had given me this room was completely correct in that it had a gorgeous view. It was on the top floor of the eastern wing, and it overlooked the main street filled with colorful stalls and tents. In the distance, the waterfall at the base of the Hoenn's Pokémon League headquarters glistened in the sunlight.

"Right now, any potential opponent only knows about three of you: Florges, Mawile, and Altaria. While I haven't been keeping the rest of you hidden, what exactly you all can do in battle is still relatively unknown." Most of my team nodded along, except for Azumarill who seemed frustrated at what I was saying. I turned to her to better explain my reasoning.

"I'm not saying I'm leaving you out, I'm saying we need to be tactical about what we reveal. I imagine that the six of you who'll be battling will have your basic strengths revealed early on, but that doesn't mean we should let people figure out your weaknesses beforehand. For you specifically, Azumarill, if your opponents learn you have Belly Drum, they might use strategies that prevent you from using your full strength.

It would be a lot more difficult to fight up close if your opponent's a flying Pokémon that attacks from range." Azumarill was a little mollified by my explanation, but still seemed upset that this was necessary.

"In the early rounds, we'll need to use enough of everyone's capabilities to win, but not enough to reveal everything in our disposal. At the same time, we can't use too little and lose. For that reason, I want to spend some time working out strategies for our early round matches that don't reveal too much. I'm telling you all this now since the preliminaries should start tomorrow, after tonight's announcement."

I got a series of positive responses, except for Ponyta who was just observing and practicing his mental defenses. With all the training he had with Jude's Alakazam, he had been protecting my mind from any trainers who might have been skimming my thoughts to get a read on my strategies. While I had an unknown protection for my deep thoughts, my surface thoughts could still be read.

Ponyta was able to prevent that, even inside his Pokéball, although he could still be forced back if the intruders weren't stealthy about it. I shot him a smile from where he was sitting down, and I felt a slight positive pressure on my mind as a response.

"Alright, so the opening ceremonies will be taking place tonight at six. We don't know how the preliminaries will work because they're different every year, but we do know that the first three battles of the Conference will be double battles. I think it'll be best if we can spend this time working out basic strategies for those, and to figure out which of you would be best used in the one-on-one battles for the preliminaries. Is everyone okay with that?" Once again, everyone responded positively.

Azumarill was more accepting now that the conversation was shifting to talk about actual battle situations, and we ended up talking off and on for the rest of the day, until it was finally time for the announcement to begin. I turned on the television in my room, much like the hundreds of other trainers wishing to compete would be doing as well, and carefully listened in as my team quieted down. The Pokémon League logo briefly appeared on the screen, then rotated off as a pink-haired nurse faded into view.

"Hello! I'm the Nurse Joy in charge of the Ever Grande Conference, and I'm here to talk to you about how the 256 competitors in the Ever Grande Conference will be selected. 652 individual trainers have signed up, and 44 of you have been approved to skip the preliminaries. The still available 212 slots of the tournament will be filled by the remaining 608 of you.

"Each year, the preliminaries are managed in different ways. Sometimes they have their own tournament, sometimes the matches are randomly selected, and sometimes we let trainers choose their opponents. This year, you'll be happy to know that you will decide your preliminary matches by yourselves." I didn't know what to think about that.

The preliminaries were meant to narrow down the competitors to the appropriate amount of the tournament, and generally speaking, they were one on one matches where, if you lost, you couldn't compete. It sucked to earn all eight badges only to be knocked out in the first round, but at the same time there were unofficial tournaments happening within Ever Grande specifically for those trainers. I was unsure if choosing our opponents would help or hurt my chances to get in.

"Normally, we have it so if a trainer loses their match, they are eliminated from the tournament. We decided to change that around to give you all more control of your fates. This time, losses in the preliminary don't matter. If you lose, you aren't eliminated." I blinked. I could only imagine the reaction that was getting from the other trainers watching.

"However, we still need to narrow down the competing trainers, so we decided to flip everything around. In order to compete in the conference, each trainer must get two wins in matches witnessed by a League official. To make your preliminary battle count, simply approach an official to request they watch your battle.

"However, simply getting two wins isn't enough to guarantee a spot within the Conference. There needs to be a way to reduce the number of you trying to compete." The Nurse Joy smiled mischievously.

"This time, only the first 212 trainers to get those two wins will be able to compete. That's right, you might not be eliminated on a loss, but if you're the 213th trainer to get two wins, you won't be able to compete. It's a race to a finish, but don't rush into it just yet! You have the next six days, until this upcoming Sunday, to get your two wins. For those who succeed, the opening ceremony will take place a week from today, proceeding Monday morning.

"And that's it! I hope you all are successful in making it through the preliminaries!" The nurse waved as if to say goodbye, but before the screen shut down, she suddenly stopped waving and leaned in conspiratorially, whispering to the camera.

"By the way, the officials are already out and waiting for your requests right now. There's no need to wait until tomorrow. Good luck!" With that, the presentation ended, and I glanced around at my team. They gave me a similar "caught off guard" expression. Without any further hesitation, I quickly returned everyone, and dashed out of my room. I had two wins to get.