Private/Closed The Lottery Tournament Semi finals

[Martin Pine]

Participants: @Frontier Master @luxraystan @Captain Cardboard @Martin Pine

"1024 contestants all fighting it out for the grand prize of 50,000 Poke dollars, welcome viewers to the lottery cup!"​

For months the Lottery cup had been airing episode after episode. At first it was highlights and compilations from the hundreds of battles that had taken place but once there were less contestants they began to show full battles and interviews,. Now there were only four. The final episode, the grand finale was about to take place and everyone was waiting. Whether they were at home watching on TV or sitting in the stadium, the huge audience the show had garnered waited with anticipation.

With only half an hour before the program aired everyone who had a part in making it was very busy. The stadium staff were making sure everything was in order whilst the filming crew double checked their cameras and devices. In one of the stadium's two boxes the filming crew for the presenters were preparing their set. The room was filled with cameras and microphones all pointing towards a curved white table where the two presenters would sit. Behind the table and chairs was a large window overlooking the pitch and most of the stadium.

The stadium shared a lot of parallels to the one in the Kalos. A modern design, a circular shape and a pitch that could change it's environment. The only noticeable differences was the exclusion of the vast void surrounding the pitch and the fact that the stands were slightly smaller in size. There was also a second VIP box. Whilst the first was being used for the hosts, the second was a spacious area for the last of the contestants.

It was a big and comfortable room. It shared the large window overlooking the stadium but rather than a filming set it had a couple of sofas, a small kitchen area, a PC and a TV that was of course tuned into the channel that was going to show the Lottery Cup. A member of staff would be leading each contestant towards the waiting room whilst also telling them crucial information they needed to know. They would be told that there was a camera in the corner of the room they were heading too but it wasn't currently on. It was going to be used later by the hosts, who would eventually tune in and say hello. The staff would emphasise that it was important that they acted friendly or at least responded. They would also be told to stay in the room until they were called out to battle or be interviewed in the host's room for content they were going to put in the extra show. Asides from that the contestants would be told nothing else. They would have no clue who they were going to battle or when but it would definitely be soon.

Finion would be the first to arrive in the waiting room. He'd been led there about a minute ago and after awkwardly examining the place he'd decided to take a seat whilst he waited for the show to begin. He was seated on a couch angled towards the TV and he was watching it with an uneasy sense of excitement. Personally he couldn't quite believe how far into the competition he'd came but he was very grateful to be here. On his lap laid Sparky, curled up and snoozing and gently whilst his trainer stroked his soft and fluffy fur.

 

[luxraystan]

Apon being ushered into the waiting room, Persophone now stood in the center of it, a sour expression spread across her features as she watched out the window, Chester standing beside her as he stood with his eyes closed, lost in his own devices. She winced at the volume of the hosts, her sour expression growing. Despite growing used to their strange height of volume, it was still a disturbance to her ears. She leaned left a few inches, bumping into Chester before regaining her center of balance. "Chester, are you all right? You seem troubled," she stated quietly, her sudden words and actions causing Chester to grunt and open his eyes. He seemed to hesitate for a moment, before nodding and turning his attention to out the window once more. Persophone nodded back, her gaze lingering on Chester before returning to the window. She wasn't the slightest bit surprised by how far she had gotten into the tournament, after all, she had practically predicted she'd make it this far. But even so, she was shocked by how many close calls she had encountered. Her grandparents had been watching from the comforts of their own home for the most of the competition, but they had told her for the semi-finals they'd watch her battle from the stands. At the thought of her grandparents, she scoffed quietly, just the mere thought of them making her scowl in anger. Now, it was Chester's turn to bring her out of her disrupting thoughts. He let out a strange sound that broke Persophone from her trance. "Apologies Chester, I'm afraid I am catching on to your bad habits," she mumbled, looking up to Chester before back out the large window, her gaze lingering on the crowd as Chester looked at her with confusion, the male grass type knowing full well Persophone was pondering on something that was bothering her. But he knew it would be best to leave her with her thoughts then bother her again.

 

[Shen: King of Digimon]

Brace was ushered inside of the waiting room along with the other contestants, his four Ape like pokemon in tow. To be frank, he wasn’t sure how he made it this far. Either it was he was extremely lucky or maybe the bar of this tournament wasn’t as high as he originally thought. That last thought however was thrown out of his mind as he saw the cameras, knowing full well they wanted to record something at some point. Looks like it really was a big deal, even the waiting room.

“Weeeeell, looks like there’s nothing more we can do but wait.” The young boy said, putting his arms behind his head. “Say guys, did you get any extra food from that lunch we had earlier?”

Red, Blue, Green and Purple all grinned the same toothy grin, taking out portions they all exchanged between them. Apples, poffins, cupcakes, ham, soda, and other contraband food items. Brace rubbed his hands together, barley able to contain himself.

“Alright! If we are gonna wait here we might as well get a bite to eat!”

There was no argument between them. They were all quick to gorge themselves on the food they had foraged, not even considering the proper manners they were supposed to be exhibiting as of now.

 

[Captain Cardboard]

Shiori sat on a sofa at the edge of the room, watching the other contestants that had made it this far in the show. He was dressed in his 'normal person' clothes right now, a basic blue jeans and red t-shirt depicting a Magikarp. His long black hair came halfway down his back, and a pair of sunglasses was sitting on top of his head. Next to him sat a woman. Unlike Shiori, she was dressed in darker colors. She wore a red vest resembling the Pokemon Item Assault Vest, and had leather boots. She had a few facial piercings, giving her a 'punk' look when paired with her short black hair.

It was rather exciting, this whole thing, and it reminded Shiori of those years ago when he would try his hardest in quite a few tournaments. This was his first tournament in a while now, and it looked like his training and experience was starting to pay off. The trainer took some time to look over the other contestants. A young woman with rose-colored hair stood in the center of the room, a Chestnaut at her side. From Shiori's recollection, her name was Persephone. The show had depicted her as tough, cocky, and serious in battle. Shiori wasn't to sure how he felt about her. She seemed so serious, it made him wonder if she even enjoyed battling at all.

On the other side of the room, a young boy dressed in multiple different colors and surrounded by ape and monkey-like Pokemon sat. The entire group seemed to be feasting, eating quite a lot of food. From what Shiori could remember, this was 'Brace'. And a lot like Shiori, the show had depicted Brace as more of a joke trainer than an actual threat. Lots of people were rather surprised that Brace had made it this far into the tournament, but Shiori wasn't. He had met so many extremely skilled kids that could battle, it wasn't a surprise that someone of Brace's age could do so well. But the kid seemed to have a lot of fun battling, which Shiori could relate to. He could be rather fun to battle.

The third one Shiori could see was a rather familiar face. Someone Shiori hadn't seen in a few years. A shorter young man with orange hair, Finion Charles. They had met at another tournament, and had become fast friends. This was the first time he had been given the chance to talk to Finion, and Shiori wasn't about to let it go to waste.
"C'mon Raza." Shiori said to the punk woman, putting on his glasses. "Let's go say hello."
The punk woman merely shrugged before pushing off the wall she had been leaning on and following after Shiori.

Shiori approached the couch that Finion was sitting at from the side. The trainer seemed to be lost in thought, stroking a familiar Pachirisu. For a moment, the actor hesitated. It had been a while, suppose that Fineon didn't even remember him? Well, even if he didn't remember Shiori that would still be okay. Shiori remember Fineon being a pretty nice guy, hopefully that much hadn't changed. Shiori cleared his throat.
"Um... Hey! It's been a while." Shiori said to Fineon.

Raza, however, was already distracted. Smelling the scent of sweets, the punk girl looked over in the direction of Brace and his monkeys. A little curious, she slowly approached and attempted to look over the boy and his Pokemon to see exactly what food they had.

 

[Shen: King of Digimon]

Brace has just dug into a back of chips, Nacho flavored ‘Star-You’s!’, stuffing his face Without a care in the world. He didn’t noticed a curious Zoroark make it’s way over to him and his gang of mischievous monkeys, that’s is, until a pokèball on his hip began to rattle.

“Huh? What’s up?” The boy asked the ball.

Primeape was always extremely overprotective over the boy, and had a nasty habit of trying to escape the ball when he sensed the slightest sign of danger. Knowing this, Brace perked up and looked around, seeing A woman approach. Seeing as it wasn’t anything nefarious in nature, he quietly shushed his pokeball down, the rattling fading to only a mild vibration.

“Heya! Don’t think we’ve been introduced!” Brace have a toothy grin, extending a hand. “Name’s Brace, the wild boy!”

 

[DarkHydraT]

"Tch, this tournament better pick up the pace soon. These bozos are not worth my time." Toby said to himself as he was called upon to enter the waiting room. Said bozos were already there, leaving little potential privacy if that kid was any indication for what's to come. Closing the door behind him, he noticed that almost everyone had one or more of their Pokémon outside of their Pokéballs. Although probably a way to calm their nerves, it was an easy way to see what Pokémon they had. This was especially useful for Toby, as he couldn't be truly bothered to remember the names of any of the contestants save for Finion. This way he could refer to everyone as something like 'Pachirisu boy'. Was it nice? No. Did he care? No. He would probably never see these guys again, so why would he bother? Besides, he wasn't here to make friends and daisy chains. He was here to win. Walking over to a chair angled towards the TV, the Johtonian sat and waited whilst trying to get some peace. Peace that was hard to maintain as his eye drifted to the kid who called himself Bruce. He made a mess of the room and whilst there were many ways to rub Toby the wrong way, making a mess was high up there. "You gonna clean that up eventually or not?" It probably was not flattering for his image to have his first words among the other contestants to be a complaint, but he was known as the stone-cold competitor, not as the freaking Fairy Godmother.

 

[Shen: King of Digimon]

“Huh?” Brace blinked, turning to Toby while still extending his hand out. “Maybe...I dunno. Why? Did you want some?”

Confused as to why Toby seemed irritated, the boy offered him food. Green the Pansage waddled up to him, offering a handful of cheese puffs shaped like huntails, a very messy finger food

 

[DarkHydraT]

The urge to punt the Pansage across the room was tempting, but Toby drew the line at physically beating the pet of a child. "No thanks, I just ate. It is rude to leave a mess after you're done eating, not to mention unhygenic. The cleaners here would not be happy if they found a bunch of chip bags and the like thrown around, and neither would we." Although Brace was clearly a child, that was no excuse for lacking manners. If he had to teach him manners, so be it, but no one better get the idea of painting him as a big brother for Brace. Arceus knew that he would go insane in a week, if not less.

 

[Shen: King of Digimon]

“Yeah I guess...although they are supposed to clean up stuff, that does sound kinda bad, don’t it?”

Green shrugged, stuffing them in his mouth, more than happy to eat a lion’s share of the food. Pansage waddled back to his trainer friend, the trainer grumbling and scooting some of his trash into a pile.

“Your super mysterious...is that like for the cameras or somethin’?”

 

[DarkHydraT]

"Mysterious? Heh, look who's talking. A kid in the semi-finals is more mysterious than someone wearing a trenchcoat inside. This ain't for the cameras, this is just who I am. Take it or leave it, kid." Toby let out a singular chuckle, this kid was something alright. Did he not know him or was he too young to see that he didn't like social interaction? He was here to battle and take a break from everyone hounding after him, that was all. No mysterious plans or anything like that.

 

[Martin Pine]

Finion was indeed lost in his thoughts, barely noticing the other contestants as they entered the room. Over the past few weeks he'd been watching the show himself, but the further he had progressed the less time he had to watch. Due to this he had no clue who his opponents were to be and whilst it would've held a tactical advantage it was also nice to have a surprise. Shiori was a nice surprise, a smile immediately spreading across his face as the familiar trainer greeted him. He made sure Sparky was secure in his arms and then stood up, cradling the Pachirisu and grinning at the actor. "Shiori! I didn't know you were in this tournament" It would've been easy to miss him out of the hundreds of contestants and episodes but Finion was still kicking himself metaphorically speaking.

"It's good to see you- I mean I've technically seen you in some shows but like actually properly see you" The orange haired trainer was mildly ecstatic, his worry melting away at the familiar face. Finion wasn't the only one happy to see Shiori. A newly awoken grumpy Pachirisu soon turned happy and chirpy. The electric squirrel wriggled out of his trainers arms and hopped onto Shiori's shoulders, waving his tail around happily as he rubbed his furry little cheek against the actors. "Pachi! Pachi- pachi!"

 

[Shen: King of Digimon]

“Am I mysterious? You think?” Brace blinked, pointing to himself. “I don’t keep any secrets...like, what would I even keep secret? My hair styling tips?”

The apes around him giggled a bit to the thought, Red especially. Red scanned the competition, getting a confident look on his face and pounded his chest with one hand. Looked like he was feeling pumped up for the oncoming battle with Toby and the other trainers.

 

[DarkHydraT]

Toby grabbed the bridge of his nose and sighed, this was why he never dealt with kids. They took too long to understand anything and were a nuisance in general. "No one's interested in your hair style, kid. I am referring to you standing in front of me at this moment. How did a kid get this far with such weak Pokémon?" He glared at the monkeys surrounding Brace and grimaced. Pathetic, even when evolved they would not be his choice. "This is the semi-finals of a tournament that had 1024 contestants, all wanting to get that prize money and bringing their best team to try and secure a spot in the later matches. Now, maybe you were lucky in your match-ups, maybe your opponents just sucked, maybe you bribed referees to win matches. My point is, how does a kid with not fully evolved Pokémon get this far? I'll admit, the majority of the opponents were despicably weak but I'd expect that all the weaklings were weeded out halfway through. It is the semi-finals, and here you stand before me. An enigma who I am unsure of should even be here in the first place. Playtime's over kid, now it is the adults round. Prepare yourself for a beatdown." He scoffed at the idea of Brace being actually capable enough to win his way up the ranks, there was no way a kid could get this far. It probably was cruel to be so blunt to Brace, but he didn't pull any punches earlier and sure wasn't going to begin now. He had a reputation to keep, for crying out loud!

 

[Shen: King of Digimon]

“Woah woah woah, who you calling weak?!”

All of his ape like pokemon stomped their eating and started to growl, glaring at Toby. Red got in an offensive stance with his fists raised like he was going to box him. Suddenly, the pokeball on his hip began to rattle more intensely, the protective pokemon inside yearning to get out.

“These guys have helped me through thick and thin, it’s unfair for you to judge them just because You don’t like me. That’s it Toko, we are gonna get you good for everyone to see! You’re gonna be beaten by a kid!”

The ape pokemon around him each looked ready to fight, the insulting competitior giving them a new focus. Green however got a plan. He walked behind him, his hands behind his back during the conversation. He reached out his cheese dust covered hand to wipe it off on Toby’s expensive looking jeans, just to mess with him.

 

[DarkHydraT]

"Alright, Braces. Normally I'd love to beat that temper of yours out of you, but our time will come. After all, public humiliation has the biggest impact. Hope you know how to deal with Scylla, she'll roast you and your primates alive." Letting out a snarky laugh, Toby got up from his chair and looked at the team. Pitiful, but one component was missing. The green one. Spinning around on his heel, the Johtonian saw the Pansage about to wipe its hands on his pants. Though unable to avoid every little speck of filth, a quick side-step saved his pants from cheese dust annihilation. "A word of advice, keep this walking weeb close to you. I can't promise that I won't have my Pokémon out next time and I won't be held responsible if that thing enters my room and gets attacked." Glaring at Brace like an Arbok at a Pidgey, Toby went to the toilet to clean the cheese dust off.

 

[Shen: King of Digimon]

Growling at his remarks, Brace balled his fist and furrowed his brow. He really didn’t like this guy’s attitude, especially since this guy insulted his friends. Even then, he couldn’t help but get a small chuckle as Green wiped a small amount of cheese dust on the man, making him storm off to the nearest bathroom. Green however was rattled at the thought of a Arbok digesting a Pidgey...that guy gave him chills.

“Good one green! We’ll show him more of what we can do when we beat him to the ground!”

Red pumped his fist In the air whilst green rubbed his arms. The simsage didn’t know what they were getting into with that guy...especially since something made him so confident.

 

[Captain Cardboard]

When Braces had offered Raza a hand to shake, the woman hesitated. Luckily, a potential awkward situation was circumvented when another human, a male with brown hair, approached and began speaking to Braces. Raza decided to sit down and watch the two humans go at it. Already, she was beginning to like Brace. Meanwhile, this other human was a bit less to Raza's liking. He seemed very uptight and irritable, which made it even more funny to watch the two's personalities clash. The woman began to laugh silently as the Pansage wiped cheese dust on the brown-haired human's clothes. As Toby walked away, Raza shook her head. What a jerk.

"It's good to see you too, Finion!" Shiori said. But before he could continue, Sparky had awoken and jumped onto Shiori's shoulder. The actor couldn't help but to laugh at the tickle of Sparky's tail, and petted the Pachirusu behind it's ears. He could feel a slight static build-up as the electric Pokemon rubbed its cheeks against Shiori's, but he didn't mind.
"Oh, hello Sparky! So, what have you two been up to lately? Been on any adventures?" Shiori asked Finion.

 

[DarkHydraT]

"Little runt and his stupid monkeys, what's next? He sends out a Magikarp? He's going down faster than a Caterpie against a Charizard, I'll make sure of that." Toby was cleaning his pants as he thought out loud about his revenge. He knew that Scylla could destroy those stupid monkeys, Spectre and Millennium would be the back-up in the unlikely event that those first form garbage Pokémon defeated Scylla. There was no place for games anymore, this kid was going down. "These are the big leagues kiddo, time for you to have a rude awakening!" Tossing the tissue in the trash with full force, he already imagined their fight. Those damn monkeys screaming in fear, running for their life as Scylla hunted them down relentlessly and ravaging their bodies until they were recalled. Yes, that would be a match that the viewers would love and so would he.

 

[Martin Pine]

Finion was not at all surprised by Sparky’s friendliness to Shiori as the little squirrel Pokemon had a soft spot for the actor. The electric type hopped back to Finion, who caught the Pachirisu in a cradle. "Not really, participated in a few tournaments, vsited Kalos and i'm thinking about visiting Galar after this" He glanced over towards the confrontation, watching as Toby left to go to the bathroom before returning his attention to Shiori. "What about you? How's your new career?"

Meanwhile ...

Two smartly dressed people walked onto a set and moved to sit down in chairs, one of them laying their hands on the white table in front of them whilst the other looked at each camera one by one. Lights pointed towards the two of them and microphones hung just out of the cameras view. The film crew were doing their final checks just before they began recording whilst producers and the like stood off to the side. Everything was ready and so the show aired.

The intro for the lottery cup suddenly played on the TV in the waiting room. It lasted for a few moments, possibly catching the attention of the contestants and their Pokemon. The intro faded into the host's room where two people sat and greeted the audience. "Hello I'm Durant Daniel!" "And I'm Donnelly Declan!" "Welcome to the lottery cup!" The TV showed off the stadium which was filled to the brim with fans. Every now and again the angle would change, showing off the pitch and the architecture of the arena. "After months of entertaining battles and close calls we're down to our final five contestants!" Both hosts appeared on the screen again and the camera changed to view them. "Now the finals are going to be done a little differently than the rest of the series. We didn't want to miss any exciting action that might happen between anyone of these contestants and so each contestant will face each other" "Right, For every win they'll receive a point and at the end the contestant with the most points wins" "If it comes to a tie breaker than we'll have one final battle to conclude who is the winner" "We'll be visiting our waiting contenders in a moment but first lets go over a recap of who's made it into the finals"

The camera in the corner of the room was accompanied by a light which suddenly lit orange. They weren't being recorded yet but they were to be soon.

 

[Shen: King of Digimon]

“Ohhhh, so that’s how they’d work it.”

Brace was mesmerized by the screen. Hard to believe he’d be on live tv soon...unless he was being recorded already? He looked to the cameras in the room, their lights were off, showing that they weren’t recording yet. Sighing in relief, Brace scanned everyone else’s face, to see how they were holding up.

 

[DarkHydraT]

Toby came out of the bathroom and caught the last part of Brace's sentence. He assumed that the cameras were rolling, so he couldn't defenestrate Brace. Shame, a damn shame. Going back to his chair, the Johtonian looked around for the Pansage and after noticing it wasn't hiding underneath it, he sat down satisfied. Now, all he had to do was wait.

 

[Captain Cardboard]

Shiori smiled faintly when Finion mentioned he was still doing tournaments and traveling.
"That sounds pretty exciting! I have to say that the career is going pretty well. The Invaders movie did pretty well, and people seemed to like my character a lot. Not to mention it was a lot of fun to do. It's all been rather exciting. I've been able to move to Unova, send some money back to support my family. And now I'm going to be playing the main character in an upcoming movie, Knights of the Draconic Order. So that's been pretty fun working on." Shiori said. The actor paused when the audio from the TV changed, and the man looked back to watch as the show seemed to be close to starting.

Raza stood up from where she was sitting, deciding that she had seen enough between the minor rivalry of Brace and this other human, and walked back over to Shiori. As she passed by Finion, she petted the Pachirisu on the head and flashed a smile and wave to the trainer/Pokemon duo.

 

[Martin Pine]

The TV screen began to display images and videos of the trainers and Pokemon the presenters were talking about. It was all done in a flashy, dramatic but professional manner. in the corner of the screen were details like their name and their most used Pokemon along with a little profile picture.

"First up we have the Johtoian terror Toby!" "This amazing trainer came into the series with a strong start and an even stronger follow up" "We have only seen two of this trainer's Pokemon. His Hydregion and Gengar who have demolished any competitor they run into with ease" "However with the competition building up will this trainer finally meet a worthy challenger"

"Next we have The Mistress from Kalos. Usually composed but not afraid to get her hands dirty. Her aggressive and reckless style has paid off as this trainer has ran over every single one of her opponents all the way to the finals" "Her Chesnaught is her most commonly used Pokemon, having shown itself to be quite a tough grass type"

"Swinging into the finals is the Wild boy Brace! He's our youngest and smallest competitor but don't underestimate him. With his crew of monkey Pokemon he's been able to out think his competition with whacky strategies and clever tricks" "How will he handle things as the competition heats up? What does this clever kid have up his sleeves for the finals"

"Was your expecting a movie star in the competition because we sure weren't" "The Marine knight played but Shiori was certainly as a surprise in the tournament but his battling abilities turn out to be as impressive as his acting. Each of his battles were tense, ending in close calls as though they were straight out of a movie but here he is in a final that will hopefully be as dramatic as the film he's in" "We're not sponsored by the way" "Ha! no no though I kind of wish we were, I'm going to watch it" "Yeah it looks pretty good"

The cameras returned to showing the two commentators. "Those last two contestants were heavily underestimated at the beginning of the show" "We're a bit guilty of that but it's good to see them in finals, honestly" "Now some of you viewers will be happy to see another contestant in the finals" "We've allowed one person that had been taken out of the tournament to be voted back into the finals and by the grace of your choice that person is ..."

In the contestants room Finion slouched a little, reaching a hand to hold the back of his head. He'd hoped they wouldn't mention it but that had definitely been wishful thinking.

"Our own dr. Dolitte, Finion Charles. Throughout the show he's shown a vast array of Pokemon, using a different two alongside his Pachirisu every round. You the viewers must've been curious to see if he had anymore Pokemon or desperate to see a familiar face" "We do know from an interview that he'd been saving at least one Pokemon for the finals" "Let's hope his big reveal pays off"

"And that's that, all of our contestants!" The camera in the room came on, the TV showing the bunch of them looking looking at the screen. "They're all just rearing to go and honestly so are we!" "We had a little interview segment planned but the producers have informed to get along with the battling!" "Now remember each opponent will face each other at least once in a head to head battle so prepare for an evening of fantastic battles"

An animation replaced the presenters. Five golden circles each having the face of a contestant on them were in a circular formation. "Our first battle will be between ..." A spinning line appeared, rotating rapidly as it floated above the circles. It lowered, slowing down and then stopping. It's two ends resting on two faces. "Shiori and Brace!" "It's time for the first battle to take place!"

Finion flopped onto the sofa, placing Sparky next to him with an embarrassed expression plastered all over his face. He gave Shiori and Brace a small wave and avoided eye contact with the other two people left in the room.

A staff member knocked and quickly entered the room, looking to the two contestants that had been announced. "You two, hurry. We'll guide you to your side of the pitch" They would be quickly escorted out with little time for goodbyes to the other. The staff lead them hastily through the underbelly of the stadium. It would take each them less than a minute to reach their end of the pitch where they were told to wait before walking out onto their podium and towards the pitch. A loud voiced boomed throughout the stadium as they were sent out to walk to their spot.
"FOR THE FIRST HALF OF THE BATTLE THE PITCH WILL BE ... GRASSY PLAINS" The pitch began to rise out of the ground. It a grassy field with tiny hills and bumps dotted around. There were a few rocks scattered around and a couple of trees as it was essentially a small prairie field. Circular robots hovered on each side of the pitch, serving as both cameras and referees. Both contestants were greeted with applause.
"THROW OUT YOUR FIRST POKEMON AND BEGIN!"

 

[Shen: King of Digimon]

“Wait...we’re fighting a movie star?” Brace blinked, pointing at himself. “Are we gonna be in a movie?? Is that why all those cameras are here??!”

The other ape like Pokémon looked to each other, giving one unanimous shrug. He suddenly felt eyes on him, as if that pressure was now weighing him down physically. Shaking his head, he tightened his fist.

“If we really are in a movie, i’m gonna be the good guy! Let’s do this!”

quickly jogging to his side of the field, making a passing wave at Finion, he got into position. His monkey Pokemon remained around his feet, all except Pansage, who leaped into action, taking the initiative in the grassy field.

“Oh? Feeling motivated there Green?” Grace Chuckled. “Awesome! Let’s fight a movie star!”

 

[Captain Cardboard]

Before Shiori could hear a response from Finion, the announcers began to speak up once again. Shiori watched as the pair gave a rundown of each of the final contestants. So Finion was the wild card, eh? Shiori grinned to his friend, flashing him a thumbs up when the announcers talked about Finion. To Shiori, there was no shame on barely sliding into the tournament. An in was an in, and that was that. But the next part of the announcement surprised Shiori.

They were starting the battles already?! But he wasn't ready! His surprise turned to panic when the dials landed on himself and Brace. This was not good. Not good at all. When the staff member entered the room, Raza and Shiori shared a panicked look. Moving quickly, the punk woman vaulted over the couch and tossed Shiori the duffle bag the actor had brought in.
"Uh, good luck on your battles Finion." Shiori said, slightly distracted. Scanning the room, he wanted to tell Brace good luck on the battle. But it was too late. The kid had already left for the field. Pushing past a confused staff member, Shiori and Raza made a beeline for the nearest bathroom.

Inside the bathroom, a transformation began. Returning Raza back to her Pokeball, Shiori unzipped his duffle bag and began to quickly change clothes. His pants were switched out for blue armored greaves. His shirt switched for a blue breastplate, complete with pauldrons and a Gyarados pattern on the center. His ponytail was pulled out, Shiori's long black hair allowed to be let down. Around his eyes, Shiori applied black makeup to give them a more intense look. To complete his look, Shiori covered his nose and mouth with a white mask that resembled the mouth of a Gyarados.

"Mr. Fujimoto. Mr. Fujimoto! If you're not on the field in the next minute, you'll be disqualified!" The staff member knocked on the door of the bathroom impatiently. The door instantly swung open as Marine Knight Gyarados dashed out of the bathroom. It would have seemed almost funny if it wasn't for the purpose and intensity in which the armored man made his way towards the pitch. Taking a Pokeball from his belt, the Marine Knight sent out his first Pokemon. A Milotic appeared on the pitch before the actor did. Not hesitating, the Marine Knight jumped onto his Milotic's tail. Tethys knew what to do. Flipping her tail up, the sea serpent Pokemon launched her trainer over herself. The Marine Knight Gyarados flipped mid-air, simultaneously extending a concealed prop trident. To many, it looked as if the prop trident had just been summoned to the Marine Knight's hand.

The Marine Knight landed in a roll, sticking it with a superhero landing. Slowly standing up, the Marine Knight glared at Brace as he twirled his trident. The kid was an unusual opponent. His Pokemon were already all out of the Pokeballs, showing that he already had both an expert bond with his Pokemon and had instilled a sense of discipline in them. The Milotic quickly slithered around the actor, taking her place as the first Pokemon out. The battle was to begin!

"Tethys, Aqua Ring." The Marine Knight commanded. His voice was low and growly, much different for Shiori's normal voice. The Milotic let out a cry as water began flow from under its scales. The water floated off of Tethys, forming a small ring around the Milotic that would move with the Pokemon. This was a rather unusual match up. Although the Pokemon Brace was using wasn't fully evolved, Shiori of all people knew better than to underestimate it. He'd have to be careful, as the Pansage would likely rely on tactics and battling smartly than try to overwhelm Tethys with sheer strength. The Marine Knight watched both Brace and his Pansage carefully, waiting to see what they would do.

 

[Shen: King of Digimon]

“...Man he’s good...”

seeing the awesome intro from the Actor, he looked to his monkey friends, nodding to each of them. They weren’t going to let themselves be outdone! Suddenly, the ape Pokémon circled around him. Pansage and Pansear jumping on his left arm while Panpour and Aipom leaped on the other, swinging like in a Gymnastics class. Struggling with the weight, Brace tossed them up in the air, each one landing on his head in a unique pose.

Blue landed first, calmly holding his hands up, catching green who fell right into them, laying down and letting his stomach catch red, who pumped his fists up, allowing Purple to suspend himself up using his tail from the top of Red’s head. They made a monkey totem pole! The idea sounded better in his head however, as their weights became too much for him, the trainer teetering over and flopping down, the ape Pokémon leaping off him.

rubbing his head, he woozily responded to his competition, still dizzy. “Howzz...that, eh...?”

Green the Pansage quickly wised up however when he realized the battle was afoot. Leaping ahead of his partner and back on the field, the careful pokemon have a inhale and then a long exhale, focusing on his foe.

“you got this green! Try to get that big fish with your leech seed!”

Diving into the tall grass, the ape used his small stature and his color to better camouflage into the grass, leaping out briefly closer to milotic, shooting several seeds at her, and seemingly several other locations around the battlefield..:

 

[Captain Cardboard]

The Marine Knight had been watching Brace closely the entire time. While Shiori may have been pleased and slightly impressed by the boy's attempt, the Marine Knight was instead hyperfocused and was not letting down his guard. In these battles, he would be putting in the concentration they deserved. So that was why when Brace finally gave his order, the Marine Knight was prepared for a command of his own. Before Brace had even finished his sentence, the Marine Knight was already calling out to his Milotic.
"Tethys, Protect!" The Marine Knight commanded. It was a bit of a risky move, calling out Protect before he even knew exactly what the opponent's attack was. Quite a few times, it had come back and bit him in the butt. But it was a strategy he had always used in previous battles, and sure enough it came through this time.

Six pillars of water burst out of the ground in front of the Milotic, forming a momentary wall between herself and the Pansage. The Leech Seeds struck the pillars of water, shooting up and away from Tethys instead of at the huge sea serpent Pokemon. The attack had been blocked, but now it was time for a counter. The tall grass prevented the Marine Knight from being able to see the Pansage, but then again he wasn't watching the Pansage. He kept his eyes trained on Brace. Instead, the Marine Knight stayed confident in the idea that perhaps Tethys' size may help her spot the Pansage.

While it was true that Tethys' size helped her see over the tall grass, she still couldn't get an exact lock on the Pansage's position. Instead, the Milotic had to rely on the movement of the Pansage as it disturbed the tall grass to give her a general location of the Pokemon. The Marine Knight was quick with another command.
"Ice Beam." The Marine Knight said. Letting out a cry, the Milotic opened her mouth and fired a beam of pure cold energy towards the area in the tall grass the Pansage was located.

 

[Shen: King of Digimon]

The seeds deflected off of the milotic’s water barrier, flinging off to other sides of the battlefield, planting themselves in many spots hidden by the grass. The Pansage snakes in the grass...but it seemed his opponent was perceptive enough to pick up his subtle movements as an ice beam was shot directly toward him, Green Yelped, the grassy growth on his forehead extending out around the front of him, spikes emerging from it.

“Aw yeah, spiky shield is a good call Green!” Brace called out. “Be carefuuuul!”

The ice beam slammed into the barrier, freezing the area all around the Pansage. Seconds passed as the barrier cracked, crumbling down, leaving a rather startled looking monkey behind it. Green was heavily intimidated by that move...terrifying stuff. Even spiky shield barley held. Gulping, he shakily looked to his trainer.

“It’s okay, don’t worry about her! Just try to be calm, think of it like peeling an orange! Let’s knot this up!”

The Red, Purple, and Blue both affirmed this, giving a thumbs up and grinning or smiling. Pansage calmed down a bit seeing his friends all confident in him and his ability to win. Now hardening his resolve, he looked back to his competitor, the tuft on his head glowing.

the green Pokémon then cartwheeled around the fish, placing Grass knots around her position every time he hopped, not seemingly directly made to hit her directly. He was cautious, trying to stay out of the sight of her face, as that ice beam was a terrible thing to receive. After hoping a few times around her, he aimed to jump up to her and place a grass knot directly on her body, which if it worked would trip the beast onto the other grass knots and maybe some leech seeds.

 

[Captain Cardboard]

Oranges? Knot it up? The Marine Knight's eyes narrowed as he listened to Brace's cheering. What sort of commands were that?

As the Pansage began to move around, Tethys began to feel a bit more on the defensive. Reflexively, a black Haze began to emerge from the Milotic, making it slightly more difficult to see. Right when the Pansage leapt out towards Tethys, the Marine Knight realized what Brace had been saying. Knot... Grass Knot!
"Tethys, look out!" The Marine Knight called out. But it was too late. The Grass Knot wrapped around Tethys' tail as the Milotic attempted to dodge back, causing the sea serpent Pokemon to slam back into a second Grass Knot. Both techniques wrapped around Tethys, cutting her with the plants. The Milotic was quick to break free from the attacks, but had taken quite a bit of damage. The Aqua Ring around Tethys glowed softly, healing some of the wounds as Tethys munched on some Leftovers.

The Marine Knight realized the strategy the Pansage was going at. By littering the field with traps and hazards, he could gain an advantage. Well, he wasn't going to let that continue.
"Tethys, Ice Beam. But spread it out a little." The Marine Knight commanded. Tethys opened its mouth as it had done before and blasted a beam of cold energy at the Pansage. But unlike before, Tethys spread the beam around in an attempt to not only hit the Pansage but also freeze and kill the Grass Knots and Leech Seeds around it.

 

[Shen: King of Digimon]

The apes let out a cheer as milotic fell down to the grass knots, the super effect attack landing on the fabulous fish. But that creature was far from taken out, Tethys rising up and regenerating some of the lost damage with it’s veil of water. That’s when He heard the attack that was coming.

“Spread it out...?”

Oh! She’s gonna make sure there’s no way I can escape the attack! Well then...guess we have to take it and make it count!

“She’s spreading it out! That means she isn’t focus firing, let her have it green! Give it everything you got!”

Pansage begrudgingly obliged, charging headlong through the attack. The ice beam struck him and everything around him. The circumference around Milotic was crystallized, icy grass knots breaking apart under the newfound pressure, practically all being dismantled. However, through the icy attack’s vapor cloud, Green burst through. His cheeks were crusted with ice and his body was covered with icicles, his tail frozen over. It’s tuft on it’s head however was only lightly damaged, a purple evolite glowing dimly from inside. Shivering but resolve not breaking, the ape coming in within inches of the Milotic. It’s mouth was wide open, a a sphere of energy glowing brightly from between the jaws.

“Point blank seed bomb!!!”

The sphere would detonate directly in front of him, a large smoke cloud coming forth from the blast, obstructing the battle from view. The results were yet to be seen...

 

[Captain Cardboard]

The Marine Knight shielded himself as the dust cloud from the intense attack inveloped him too. He looked in the direction of the two Pokemon as the smoke cleared, and found himself grinning underneath the mask. This kid and his Pokemon sure were something...
"Gutsy..." The Marine Knight said.

Smoke slowly cleared to reveal... and exhausted and unconscious Milotic. The Marine Knight's gaze, once filled with admiration, grew flinty as he looked down on his fallen friend. Being such a large and heavy Pokemon struck by not one but two Grass Knot attacks, plus a point-blank power move like Seed Bomb, well... even from a pre-evolved Pokemon, that was still enough to bypass Tethys' defenses and knock out the sea-serpent Pokemon. But there was still some good in this. The field had been mostly cleared of the Leech Seed and Grass Knot traps the Pansage had set up, and hopefully the Pokemon had been mostly weakened by Tethys' Ice Beam. The Marine Knight returned Tethys back to her Pokeball.

It took the Marine Knight less than a second to decide on the Pokemon to send out next. Unclipping a Great Ball from his belt, he twirled his trident threw it out.
"Riptide, avenge your friend." the Marine Knight commanded coldly. If this boy had watched any of the Marine Knight's matches, this would be a rather unusual move. This was a Pokemon that the Marine Knight hadn't used yet. There was a flash of red light, which dimmed to reveal... a Feebas flopping on the frosted ground.
"Ice Beam." The Marine Knight said. Hoping to take advantage of possible surprise or confusion, the Feebas instantly righted itself, and a powerful beam of cold energy shooting out of it's mouth towards the Pansage.

 

[Shen: King of Digimon]

As the smoke cleared, it revealed the Milotic, unconscious on the ground whilst Green stood, panting and out of breath. It was a good first start! The monkey gave a thumbs up back at brace who gave a thumbs up right back at his companion.

“Hey, I think I like this movie so far!” Brace grinned, but that quickly changed to one of surprise as he saw the marine knight unhinge a great ball. “Uh oh...that looks like bad news. Be careful bud!”

Careful he was. knowing their opponent would likely change to a type advantage, he synthesized his spiky shield, preparing for a deadly Charizard or froslass. What they got however...was a flopping feebas. Brace blinked as he saw the little flush flopping helplessly. Pansage peaked an eye out from behind his shield, just to make sure what he heard was right.

”Um...did you choose the right ball-“

*FWOOSH!*

a sudden ice beam came from the fish, who quickly wised up. Pansage was caught off balance from the surprising attack, the shield taking most of the hit before during the tail end, it slipped out of his grasp due to the surprise attack, the last gasp of the beam shoving the monkey back into a pile of dirt.

“Oh nelly! That’s one tough fish...!” Brace recoiled, still in shock. “Try weakening ‘em Green, don’t underestimate it! Give it a toxic impression!”

green nodded with a sweat drop. Unsure how exactly this feebas was going to move, the Pansage emitted two thick purple beams of poison from it’s mouth, spiraling toward Feebas in two directions in a pincer movement in case it decided to flop out of the way

 

[Captain Cardboard]

While Brace called out in surprise, the Marine Knight was already calling out another order.
"Rain Dance." The Marine Knight said. The Feebas flopped around once again, letting out a cry. Clouds formed over the stadium as rain began to fall. The rain seemed to slicken the fish Pokemon's scales, giving it a slippery sheen. A strange Damp Rock lodged in it's scales glowed softly. Right as the Toxic attack was about to hit Riptide, the Feebas zipped forward with incredible speed and dodged the attack. Its Swift Swim ability had activated, giving it a major boost to its speed. It zipped around the Pansage, skipping and half swimming through the puddles that were beginning to form. Hoping to find a better angle this time, the Feebas fired a second Ice Beam towards the Pansage.

 

[Shen: King of Digimon]

As the thematic rain began pouring down, Feebas made it’s dashing move, dodging the toxic and I circled the pansage. Green could hardly keep track of him due to his swift movements.

“Hold on there pansage! Uhm...lemme think...!”

pansage wasn’t waiting. Green panicked, shooting leech seeds everywhere he looked, hoping to snag Feebas in one of the leech seeds. But it was to no avail, Feebas outmaneuvered him at every turn. Feebas was done playing, zapping Green from behind with a blistering Ice beam! Green was frozen in place briefly before the ice shattered, sending an unconscious pansage tumbling out.

“Wow...that’s a scary bass...” Brace remarked as Red came over and carried Green off the stage. “Alright then...Who wants to go next?”

blue flicked his hair out of the way, jumping onto the battlefield with grace. Brace chuckled at blue’s ever preset comfortably and swagger. Even if Blue is faster than green...he’ll never catch him. Oh! I know!

“We need to slow him down blue, use thunderwave!”

making a charming smirk, Blue flashed two fingers in the air and then pointed down at the ground, an omnidirectional wave of thunder expanding outwards from him, getting faster speed due to the conductivity of the rain. Since Feebas loved to encircle targets, this would be a great way of getting to him.

 

[Captain Cardboard]

The Thunderwave struck Riptide as it circled the Panpour, looking for an opening. The Feebas seemed to 'trip', it's momentum causing it to skip forward like skipping stone over a few puddles. The fish skidded to a stop in the mud, flopping around energetically as electricity occasionally sparked across its scales.
"Bass! Bass!" The Feebas exclaimed, looking rather helpless.
"Riptide, Mud Sport!" The Marine Knight instructed. Hopefully, the spewing of mud around the arena would provide some cover for the fish Pokemon. Swampy and muddy conditions were where Shiori found Riptide, so if they could terraform the field to replicate that environment, they might have a bit of an advantage. But before the Feebas could spew mud around, electricity coursed through its body. Riptide found that it was unable to move! It was paralyzed!

 

[Shen: King of Digimon]

An opening! He couldn’t believe his luck! Not only did thunderwave hit, but Feebas was paralyzed! He needed to take advantage of this!

“Blue! Quick! Give ‘em the ol’ slice and dice!” Brace pumped his fist in the air.

blue hoped down right next to the paralyzed bass. Due to it’s stable nature of the moment, Panpour had time to sharpen a thick set of Shadow claws extending over two feet in length. Wiping a stray bang out of his eyes, he slashed down at Feebas as if it was about to chop him right up for dinner!

 

[Captain Cardboard]

It was at the moment that Blue slashed down onto Riptide that the Feebas' paralysis wore off. It frantically flopped to the side, but it wasn't enough. The Shadow Claw raked across the Feebas' side, knocking the fish Pokemon to the side. The Marine Knight supposed that Riptide had gotten lucky in its unfortunate circumstance. If it hadn't moved, that Shadow Claw would have knocked it out for sure. Even now, as the Feebas lay in the mud and the rain, it was difficult to tell if the fish Pokemon was still able to battle. It looked practically out of the fight. But the Marine Knight knew his Pokemon.

If Shiori were acting another role, such as Karpman or Johsia, he might have said something like 'have a taste of your own medicine! Point Blank Dragon Pulse!'. But the Marine Knight wasn't one to mince words.
"Dragon Pulse." The Marine Knight ordered. Not even righting itself, the Feebas opened its mouth a fired a beam of purple energy towards Blue.

 

[Shen: King of Digimon]

“Wha-“

*BOOM!*

The Feebas truly was an unpredictable subject, Riptide shooting a dragon pulse at the unsuspecting blue, who was taken off guard due to underestimating the fish. Taking the hit, the monkey slid across the ground, creating a rut in the dirt. Blue looked back up, it’s cool expression becoming that of a determined one, seeming more concerned that it’s hair had been knocked out of form.

“I didn’t even know Feebas could learn dragon attacks, you sure got a one of a kind bud there!” Brace grinned back at Shiori. “But Blue here isn’t going down in just one shot if that’s what your after! Blue! Hydro Pump!”

Blue, being the most crafty one of the four, concocted a plan. It jumped up in the air at the right angle, firing a hydro pump from it’s mouth. It’s plan? Shoot the Feebas and track it if need be, pushing it into every single leech seed it could along the way. Blue was gifted with a photographic memory, so he would be able to push The paralyzed and speed hampered Feebas where he wanted.

 

[Captain Cardboard]

The rain continued to fall, but the Marine Knight ignored it. He pointed his trident at the Panpour, giving another quick command to Riptide.
"Blizzard." The Marine Knight ordered. Looking up as Blue jumped up, the Feebas summoned a huge blast of icy wind at the same time Blue fired a Hydro Pump. The two seemed to meet in midair, countering each other for a moment. But only a moment. While Blizzard was a powerful attack, so was Hydro Pump. And there were a few things against Riptide, other than it's not-so-great stats. First off, Blue had the same type attack bonus, or 'STAB' on its attack while Riptide did not. The Hydro Pump would also have been boosted by the rain, which was still falling. Blizzard would not.

The Hydro Pump pushed through the Blizzard as Riptide flopped to the side. Ice shattered and scattered around and upon the fish Pokemon. The attack, though rather weakened from having to get through the Blizzard attack, knocked Riptide back once again. But still, the Feebas managed to hold on. Once again, it attempted to fire another Dragon Pulse at the Panpour.

 

[Shen: King of Digimon]

As the Feebas skidded backswards from the recent duel of attacks, it was snagged on the Leech seed clump that Panpour’s goal was. There was no time to celebrate though. Feebas was quick to retaliate after it’s snag, charging up another dragon rage. Seeing as how Hydro pump was Proven effective last time, Panpour decided if it wasn’t broken don’t fix it.

firing a Hydro pump yet again on the now stationary Feebas, it’s goal was to overpower the attack with the rain on his side whilst Feebas was quite literally backed into a corner. Simple, but no less effective as the two beams collided with each other, fighting for dominance while leech seed dug it’s heels into Feebas, slowly shifting the tide