It was a dark night, the moon was hidden behind the clouds and the only light that Rein and Flynn had to travel by was that being emitted from Lunara, Rein’s Umbreon companion, as her yellow rings pulsated dimly in the darkness of Route 42. Rein stretched and yawned as they traveled back toward Ecruteak City. “Shouldn’t we just make camp for the night?” Flynn asked, his red hair was standing on end, but Rein couldn’t see that particular detail in the darkness.
“I really don’t feel like sleeping on the ground, come on, we’ll be home before you know it.” Rein replied, quickening his pace a bit.
“But I can’t even see where we’re going? How can you be so calm in the pitch black? Don’t you have a flashlight or something at least?” Flynn whined. In response, Lunara growled indignantly. “Sorry, Lulu, I think you’re doing great, but Rein knows how much I hate traveling in the dark!” He said pointedly in Rein’s direction.
“Well next time I just won’t bring you for training, you big chicken,” Rein laughed, ruffling Flynn’s hair, causing his blue headband to shift and fall over his face.
“Watch it!” Flynn cleared his throat, ducking away from Rein’s hand and pulling his headband back up, pushing his hair to stand up in messy spikes again. “Mount Mortar is barely worth training at anyway,” the young man huffed, “when are we going to finally go to Kalos and challenge the league? We’ve been stuck in Johto for too long, you getting too old for adventure or something?”
It was true that Rein was in his twenties now, having just celebrated his twenty-second birthday this year. He had spent his winnings from the Pokémon leagues he had competed in to buy a house for himself, Flynn, and Lexi in Ecruteak. “We’ll go soon,” he finally sighed, “I told Morty I would help out around the gym for a bit, but I’ll see how much longer he needs me, we could probably go in the new year.”
“We could go now, you know Morty doesn’t need your help, right? The guy is a gym leader. He already told you not to let helping at the gym interfere with anything you’ve got planned.”
The truth was, Morty had been a big help to Rein when things were at their worst; when he first came to Johto, he was searching for his sister, Alice, and still running from Team Rocket. More specifically, a Team Rocket higher up from Saffron City in Kanto names Richard. Even though things with Team Rocket were long past, and Richard had been dealt with years ago, the scars from that ordeal were only just beginning to heal for Rein. He felt safe when he was in Ecruteak, when he was training with Morty, but he knew Flynn was right; sooner or later he would have to move on.
“Letter came for you today.” Rein jumped as the words formed in his mind. “Didn’t want to bug you while you were training.”
“Lexi, I hate when you do that.” Rein said aloud, Flynn chuckled a bit, knowing exactly what had happened. Lexi was a psychic, and when partnered with her Abra she had far reaching telepathy, along with plenty of other tricks. One of her favorite pastimes was surprising Flynn and Rein with conversations in their head without prior warning. “What kind of letter?”
“Dunno, but it’s got a league stamp on it. No sender name or address though.” Came the reply. “I’ll just show you.”
There was a loud whooshing sound as suddenly Lexi was standing in front of them on the route. “Hocus use flash.” Suddenly the Abra in her backpack began to emit a bright purple light of psychic origin in the area around him. Lexi reaches out her hand and gave Rein the envelope she had teleported from home to give him.
“Show off, you could have just waited until we got home.” Rein smirked, taking the letter from Lexi and ripping open the envelope. Two items were inside, a red card embossed with the words you’re invited and a letter. Rein began to read.
Dear Mr. Vanguarde, I hope this letter finds you in good health. I am hosting a tournament on the island of Fairwind Key; what is unique to this tournament is that the contestants will be comprised of former Pokémon League champions and those who placed within a certain threshold. As you placed third in the Johto League and were named Champion of the Kanto League, plus a glowing recommendation from Ecruteak City’s gym leader, Morty, I am happy to extend to you an invitation to the Fairwind Key Master Tournament! I look forward to seeing how far you can go against other champions. The tournament will begin on the first of the month, until then, I wish you good health and good luck.
Simon Whitaker
“Well?” Flynn said after a few moments, once he could tell Rein had finished reading the letter.
“It’s an invitation to a tournament.” Rein said raising an eyebrow, “against former champions of the different Pokémon Leagues.”
“So you’re going to go, right?” Lexi asked, smirking.
“You mean you aren’t just going to read my mind?” Rein smiled as he turned to Lunara, “well, partner, what do you think?” Lunara purred happily in response, rubbing up against his leg. “I guess, since Morty vouched for me and everything, I should go.”
“You deserve it, Rein,” Flynn said, “you won the Kanto League, Morty vouching for you was just extra.”
“He’s right, not to mention I know you already decided to go, as soon as you read the letter you got excited about the tournament.” Lexi punched him on the arm, “you need to be more honest with your feelings.”
“Yeah, yeah,” he waved the statement away, “Flynn, Lexi, when I get back we will go to Kalos and challenge the league.” He smiled at Flynn, then narrowed his eyes at him, “you better train with Morty while I’m gone, I don’t want you to not qualify for the League because you got lazy.”
Flynn gasped and dramatically gestured toward himself, “lazy!? Me!? I resent that statement.”
“It’s true though, even you think you’re lazy.” Lexi stuck her tongue out at Flynn, then turned to Rein, “you want us to teleport you to Olivine to catch a boat?”
“Nah, take Flynn home, I’ll just have Napalm fly me. I’ve already got my bag,” he said gesturing to his backpack, already packed with extra clothes just in case he needed them, “plus, it’ll give me some time to plan some strategy.” Rein reached down to his belt and grabbed a Pokéball, he tossed it high into the air where it cracked open and the red light formed the shape of a Charizard, Napalm roared and lowered himself, waiting for Rein to climb aboard.
“Take care of yourself, we’ll see you after you win that tournament!” Flynn gave Rein a high five.
Lexi came up and gave Rein a hug, “good luck, be safe. I know you’ll do great.” She walked over and put her hand on Flynn’s shoulder, “see you soon.”
After they said their goodbyes Lexi and Flynn teleported home. Rein smiled and climbed aboard Napalm and took off for Olivine City.
—————————————————-
After a couple of days and a fairly uneventful voyage, the words Rein had been waiting for finally sounded over the PA system, “ladies and gentlemen, we will be pulling into port at Fairwind Key in approximately thirty minutes, please have all your belongings together and be ready to disembark.”
Rein quickly chose an outfit, a black, short-sleeved button down shirt with green vine designs and dark blue skinny jeans tucked into a pair of black leather boots. He quickly ran a brush through his shaggy black hair, grabbed some pomade and styled it into messy-bed-head look, making a mental note to touch up the green highlights when he got home, they were beginning to fade. He grabbed his C-gear and strapped it to his wrist, the newest generation was sleek and aesthetically pleasing, functioning as a phone, instant-messaging device and web browser all-in-one. Grabbing his backpack and double checking that he hadn’t forgotten anything in the room, he headed out to the deck to catch a view of the island and wait to disembark.
Even from afar, Fairwind Key was impressive, from here Rein could see the center of the island was a large city, with buildings rivaling even those in Castelia City in Unova, from what Rein had seen online at least. The center of the city had a large spire-like building with a blinking red light at the top that would undoubtedly be clearly visible from anywhere on the island. The landmass was more than just a single city, however, and he could see smaller towns spread out on the island. He bent over and scooped Lunara up into his arms, letting her get a look at the island as well.
The ship sailed into the port, the shape of the island allowed for the ship to pull right up to a dock in the large city on the island. The port was decorated for the arrival of the masters and there was a huge banner hanging over the main road leading into the city that said: Welcome Masters!
The ship docked and the passengers began filing off, at the bottom of the ramp there were tables being staffed by tournament workers, checking in the people there to compete. Rein approached the table with Lunara by his side, he reached into his pocket and produced the red invitation, having watched the person ahead of him do the same.
“Name.” The woman at the table said with a smile, a small laptop opened in front of her. She had large, friendly eyes and poofy blonde hair, she was bundled up in a jacket against the brisk morning air.
“Rein Vanguarde,” Rein answered with a smirk, placing his invitation down in front of her as he did.
“Ok, mister Vanguarde, let me get you your competitor badge here,” she said as she clacked away on the keyboard. After a few keystrokes she grabbed an ID card and inserted it into a slot on the laptop, a few more keystrokes and the card was ejected, Rein’s picture from his trainer ID and name printed neatly on the card above a fancy, embossed COMPETITOR descriptor. The woman set it down along with a guidebook of the city. “All competitors are staying at the Gilded Lilligant, Fairwind Key’s exclusive five star hotel, courtesy of Mister Whitaker. Please show your ID badge to the front desk at the hotel and collect your room key, there will be a presentation in the hotel’s main ballroom at eight o’ clock tonight. Until then, please enjoy the hospitality that Fairwind City has to offer!”
Rein collected his new ID badge and gave the woman a wave, “thank you, ma’am. C’mon, Lunara, let’s go get settled in.”
It wasn’t difficult to find the Gilded Lilligant, it was on the east side of the city, according to the map in Rein’s new guidebook. While he walked there, There were no cars on the island that Rein could see, and the inhabitants he saw seemed to mainly walk or ride Pokémon to get around, he passed multiple restaurants that smelled amazing, causing his stomach to rumble. He also passed designer clothing stores, tourist shops, spas, and many other things that one would normally find in a resort city. One thing that Rein noticed immediately, however, was something that wasn’t a common sight in cities like this, there were Pokémon battle arenas all over the city: painted in the streets, carved into the ground in parks, and fenced into otherwise empty lots beside buildings. Also, according to the guidebook, there was a League Certified stadium in the center of the city, where the spire climbed into the sky.
“Whoa,” he breathed as he approached the Gilded Lilligant, “they weren’t kidding when they said this place was five stars,” he said to Lunara as they walked up to the entrance, the both admired the fifteen foot tall, golden Lilligant statue in the center of a black marble fountain with a geyser of water spraying out of its flower, designed in such a way that it would refract light and make a rainbow above the Lilligant’s head at any time of the day. The building itself seemed to be made out of some sort of polished black stone with vibrant white grout lines.
Rein and Lunara exchanged glances and proceeded inside, they weren’t the first contestants to arrive, the lobby was abuzz with activity as trainers checked in, human and Pokémon bellhops ran luggage carts to and fro, and groups of people littered the extravagant couches and armchairs dotted around the entry. The path from the door to the front desk was lined with black marble columns and a large crystal chandelier hung from the ceiling. Rein whistled as he took a look around at all the different trainers, certain he saw more than a couple gym leaders from every region in the various crowds.
Adjusting his backpack on his shoulder, suddenly feeling that he was both underpacked and underdressed, he walked up and joined the queue for check-in. He glanced at his C-gear and noted that it was only noon, plenty of time before the assembly in the hotel’s ballroom. “After we get our room key and check out the digs, let’s go grab some food.” Rein smiled at his companion, “I may go to one of those clothing stores later and buy a suit…” he mused, “I didn’t think to go home and pack anything fancy.”
“I really don’t feel like sleeping on the ground, come on, we’ll be home before you know it.” Rein replied, quickening his pace a bit.
“But I can’t even see where we’re going? How can you be so calm in the pitch black? Don’t you have a flashlight or something at least?” Flynn whined. In response, Lunara growled indignantly. “Sorry, Lulu, I think you’re doing great, but Rein knows how much I hate traveling in the dark!” He said pointedly in Rein’s direction.
“Well next time I just won’t bring you for training, you big chicken,” Rein laughed, ruffling Flynn’s hair, causing his blue headband to shift and fall over his face.
“Watch it!” Flynn cleared his throat, ducking away from Rein’s hand and pulling his headband back up, pushing his hair to stand up in messy spikes again. “Mount Mortar is barely worth training at anyway,” the young man huffed, “when are we going to finally go to Kalos and challenge the league? We’ve been stuck in Johto for too long, you getting too old for adventure or something?”
It was true that Rein was in his twenties now, having just celebrated his twenty-second birthday this year. He had spent his winnings from the Pokémon leagues he had competed in to buy a house for himself, Flynn, and Lexi in Ecruteak. “We’ll go soon,” he finally sighed, “I told Morty I would help out around the gym for a bit, but I’ll see how much longer he needs me, we could probably go in the new year.”
“We could go now, you know Morty doesn’t need your help, right? The guy is a gym leader. He already told you not to let helping at the gym interfere with anything you’ve got planned.”
The truth was, Morty had been a big help to Rein when things were at their worst; when he first came to Johto, he was searching for his sister, Alice, and still running from Team Rocket. More specifically, a Team Rocket higher up from Saffron City in Kanto names Richard. Even though things with Team Rocket were long past, and Richard had been dealt with years ago, the scars from that ordeal were only just beginning to heal for Rein. He felt safe when he was in Ecruteak, when he was training with Morty, but he knew Flynn was right; sooner or later he would have to move on.
“Letter came for you today.” Rein jumped as the words formed in his mind. “Didn’t want to bug you while you were training.”
“Lexi, I hate when you do that.” Rein said aloud, Flynn chuckled a bit, knowing exactly what had happened. Lexi was a psychic, and when partnered with her Abra she had far reaching telepathy, along with plenty of other tricks. One of her favorite pastimes was surprising Flynn and Rein with conversations in their head without prior warning. “What kind of letter?”
“Dunno, but it’s got a league stamp on it. No sender name or address though.” Came the reply. “I’ll just show you.”
There was a loud whooshing sound as suddenly Lexi was standing in front of them on the route. “Hocus use flash.” Suddenly the Abra in her backpack began to emit a bright purple light of psychic origin in the area around him. Lexi reaches out her hand and gave Rein the envelope she had teleported from home to give him.
“Show off, you could have just waited until we got home.” Rein smirked, taking the letter from Lexi and ripping open the envelope. Two items were inside, a red card embossed with the words you’re invited and a letter. Rein began to read.
Dear Mr. Vanguarde, I hope this letter finds you in good health. I am hosting a tournament on the island of Fairwind Key; what is unique to this tournament is that the contestants will be comprised of former Pokémon League champions and those who placed within a certain threshold. As you placed third in the Johto League and were named Champion of the Kanto League, plus a glowing recommendation from Ecruteak City’s gym leader, Morty, I am happy to extend to you an invitation to the Fairwind Key Master Tournament! I look forward to seeing how far you can go against other champions. The tournament will begin on the first of the month, until then, I wish you good health and good luck.
Simon Whitaker
“Well?” Flynn said after a few moments, once he could tell Rein had finished reading the letter.
“It’s an invitation to a tournament.” Rein said raising an eyebrow, “against former champions of the different Pokémon Leagues.”
“So you’re going to go, right?” Lexi asked, smirking.
“You mean you aren’t just going to read my mind?” Rein smiled as he turned to Lunara, “well, partner, what do you think?” Lunara purred happily in response, rubbing up against his leg. “I guess, since Morty vouched for me and everything, I should go.”
“You deserve it, Rein,” Flynn said, “you won the Kanto League, Morty vouching for you was just extra.”
“He’s right, not to mention I know you already decided to go, as soon as you read the letter you got excited about the tournament.” Lexi punched him on the arm, “you need to be more honest with your feelings.”
“Yeah, yeah,” he waved the statement away, “Flynn, Lexi, when I get back we will go to Kalos and challenge the league.” He smiled at Flynn, then narrowed his eyes at him, “you better train with Morty while I’m gone, I don’t want you to not qualify for the League because you got lazy.”
Flynn gasped and dramatically gestured toward himself, “lazy!? Me!? I resent that statement.”
“It’s true though, even you think you’re lazy.” Lexi stuck her tongue out at Flynn, then turned to Rein, “you want us to teleport you to Olivine to catch a boat?”
“Nah, take Flynn home, I’ll just have Napalm fly me. I’ve already got my bag,” he said gesturing to his backpack, already packed with extra clothes just in case he needed them, “plus, it’ll give me some time to plan some strategy.” Rein reached down to his belt and grabbed a Pokéball, he tossed it high into the air where it cracked open and the red light formed the shape of a Charizard, Napalm roared and lowered himself, waiting for Rein to climb aboard.
“Take care of yourself, we’ll see you after you win that tournament!” Flynn gave Rein a high five.
Lexi came up and gave Rein a hug, “good luck, be safe. I know you’ll do great.” She walked over and put her hand on Flynn’s shoulder, “see you soon.”
After they said their goodbyes Lexi and Flynn teleported home. Rein smiled and climbed aboard Napalm and took off for Olivine City.
—————————————————-
After a couple of days and a fairly uneventful voyage, the words Rein had been waiting for finally sounded over the PA system, “ladies and gentlemen, we will be pulling into port at Fairwind Key in approximately thirty minutes, please have all your belongings together and be ready to disembark.”
Rein quickly chose an outfit, a black, short-sleeved button down shirt with green vine designs and dark blue skinny jeans tucked into a pair of black leather boots. He quickly ran a brush through his shaggy black hair, grabbed some pomade and styled it into messy-bed-head look, making a mental note to touch up the green highlights when he got home, they were beginning to fade. He grabbed his C-gear and strapped it to his wrist, the newest generation was sleek and aesthetically pleasing, functioning as a phone, instant-messaging device and web browser all-in-one. Grabbing his backpack and double checking that he hadn’t forgotten anything in the room, he headed out to the deck to catch a view of the island and wait to disembark.
Even from afar, Fairwind Key was impressive, from here Rein could see the center of the island was a large city, with buildings rivaling even those in Castelia City in Unova, from what Rein had seen online at least. The center of the city had a large spire-like building with a blinking red light at the top that would undoubtedly be clearly visible from anywhere on the island. The landmass was more than just a single city, however, and he could see smaller towns spread out on the island. He bent over and scooped Lunara up into his arms, letting her get a look at the island as well.
The ship sailed into the port, the shape of the island allowed for the ship to pull right up to a dock in the large city on the island. The port was decorated for the arrival of the masters and there was a huge banner hanging over the main road leading into the city that said: Welcome Masters!
The ship docked and the passengers began filing off, at the bottom of the ramp there were tables being staffed by tournament workers, checking in the people there to compete. Rein approached the table with Lunara by his side, he reached into his pocket and produced the red invitation, having watched the person ahead of him do the same.
“Name.” The woman at the table said with a smile, a small laptop opened in front of her. She had large, friendly eyes and poofy blonde hair, she was bundled up in a jacket against the brisk morning air.
“Rein Vanguarde,” Rein answered with a smirk, placing his invitation down in front of her as he did.
“Ok, mister Vanguarde, let me get you your competitor badge here,” she said as she clacked away on the keyboard. After a few keystrokes she grabbed an ID card and inserted it into a slot on the laptop, a few more keystrokes and the card was ejected, Rein’s picture from his trainer ID and name printed neatly on the card above a fancy, embossed COMPETITOR descriptor. The woman set it down along with a guidebook of the city. “All competitors are staying at the Gilded Lilligant, Fairwind Key’s exclusive five star hotel, courtesy of Mister Whitaker. Please show your ID badge to the front desk at the hotel and collect your room key, there will be a presentation in the hotel’s main ballroom at eight o’ clock tonight. Until then, please enjoy the hospitality that Fairwind City has to offer!”
Rein collected his new ID badge and gave the woman a wave, “thank you, ma’am. C’mon, Lunara, let’s go get settled in.”
It wasn’t difficult to find the Gilded Lilligant, it was on the east side of the city, according to the map in Rein’s new guidebook. While he walked there, There were no cars on the island that Rein could see, and the inhabitants he saw seemed to mainly walk or ride Pokémon to get around, he passed multiple restaurants that smelled amazing, causing his stomach to rumble. He also passed designer clothing stores, tourist shops, spas, and many other things that one would normally find in a resort city. One thing that Rein noticed immediately, however, was something that wasn’t a common sight in cities like this, there were Pokémon battle arenas all over the city: painted in the streets, carved into the ground in parks, and fenced into otherwise empty lots beside buildings. Also, according to the guidebook, there was a League Certified stadium in the center of the city, where the spire climbed into the sky.
“Whoa,” he breathed as he approached the Gilded Lilligant, “they weren’t kidding when they said this place was five stars,” he said to Lunara as they walked up to the entrance, the both admired the fifteen foot tall, golden Lilligant statue in the center of a black marble fountain with a geyser of water spraying out of its flower, designed in such a way that it would refract light and make a rainbow above the Lilligant’s head at any time of the day. The building itself seemed to be made out of some sort of polished black stone with vibrant white grout lines.
Rein and Lunara exchanged glances and proceeded inside, they weren’t the first contestants to arrive, the lobby was abuzz with activity as trainers checked in, human and Pokémon bellhops ran luggage carts to and fro, and groups of people littered the extravagant couches and armchairs dotted around the entry. The path from the door to the front desk was lined with black marble columns and a large crystal chandelier hung from the ceiling. Rein whistled as he took a look around at all the different trainers, certain he saw more than a couple gym leaders from every region in the various crowds.
Adjusting his backpack on his shoulder, suddenly feeling that he was both underpacked and underdressed, he walked up and joined the queue for check-in. He glanced at his C-gear and noted that it was only noon, plenty of time before the assembly in the hotel’s ballroom. “After we get our room key and check out the digs, let’s go grab some food.” Rein smiled at his companion, “I may go to one of those clothing stores later and buy a suit…” he mused, “I didn’t think to go home and pack anything fancy.”
