Location: Jinko Island, Docks
Time: The day before the tournament, Late afternoon
Tagging: Salem, Ajax, Megan
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The sound of people roused Salem from his light dozing. He brushed the light hairs, covering his face, aside and sat up to take in his surroundings. He was in a harbor floating in between ships of various sizes. It seems he made it to the Tournament grounds if the people milling about on the docks were any indication. Salem had been lying on the back of Ajax, his trusted Blastoise, for the better part of the day as they followed in the wake of the ferry they had missed from the mainland. They could have easily made it and had, in fact, arrived on time. They only missed it when Salem had decided to give in to a sudden craving for a fish sandwich and had stepped out again. The young man considered catering to his fancies an important factor to healthy living. Sure you miss out on some things on occasion but the trick is to not let those losses overshadow the gains. And so they ended up swimming… again.
Ajax made his way towards some stairs rising out from the water on the side of the docks and waited patiently for his trainer to hop to shore.
“Thanks Ajax,” Salem said to his companion once he stood on dry land. “A job well done. Remind me that I owe you a nice scrubbing later.”
The giant turtle grumbled a bit and rolled over onto his back.
“Not now buddy, I need to check us in. We don’t want to have come all this way for nothing do we?” Salem laughed. He bend down and leant forward to give his Pokemon a well-deserved pad on the shell before he withdrew him back into his Pokeball and clipped it onto his belt. He stood up straight, stretched and yawned before he started walking down the docks.
There were a lot of people, seemingly from all walks of life. If these all were entering the Tournament this would be a bigger event than he originally suspected.
‘I suppose it was to be expected, since there were fewer requirements for registration than is the norm for events such as these.’ Salem thought to myself as he made his way through the crowd in the direction of the reception.
‘If this Tournament proves to be a lot of fun I might pursue those Gym Badges more seriously in the future.’
As Salem drew closer to the reception he saw that there were various desks set up and that they had banners depicting different regions.
‘Maybe this separation has something to do with the roster later.’ He mused as he stepped in line for the Kanto desk. The line was moving at a steady pace and before long he was standing in front of woman with short dark hair.
‘Poor woman,’ Salem thought,
‘from the look of her she has been sitting here for a while already. It must be tough on the staff with this many people showing up.’
“Trainer ID card and Tournament ID card please.” She droned with all the enthusiasm she could muster after having repeated this particular line countless times today.
Salem reached into the pouch hanging from his belt and handed her the documents she requested. When she blindly reached for them he held onto them until she looked up at him. He gave her an easy smile.
“You’ll miss out on a beautiful day if you only keep that pretty face downcast, miss,” he said in an attempt to brighten up her mood a little, and let go of the documents.