He sighs at this new information. "Well, I know for a fact that nothing good can come of it. I was able to sense a malevolent presence from him." He turns to Drayden and smiles. "I look forward to battling with you, Drayden-san." He gestures to Kihaku. "This is my partner, Kihaku." Kihaku nods and growls out it's name in typical Lucario fashion.

Drayden nodded his approval at the Lucario and gave it a firm pat on the head. "I can tell that Kihaku has been well-trained. I look forward to seeing what you'll be able to accomplish in the tournament. And that goes for you two as well," he added as he turned to Pika who had been pirched on Red's shoulder and gave his chin a scratch.

"But it's getting late and the Opening Ceremonies will begin tomorrow as soon as the other boats arrive. You should all get your rest so you can be at your best tomorrow."

Red and Green both nodded in agreement while Blue gave a grunt in affirmation. Iris let out a bit of a groan while Drayden continued to carry her out of the Pokemon Center back towards their Hotel.

"Shall I escort you all back to your own rooms, then?" Geoff offered with a polite bow.

Red shook his head. "Yellow is still helping Nurse Joy in the kitchen, but we'll head back on our own just as soon as she's finished."

Geoff nodded then made his own exit.

"So what exactly did you mean by... 'malevolent presence'?" Red asked, turning back to Seishin just as Yellow began to approach to rejoin the group.

He turns to face him. "As an Aura Guardian-in-training, I am able to sense not only the aura of a person, but the intent of their actions, be it good or bad. I could tell he wished harm on someone, but I did not know who. I have narrowed it down to two people: Yellow and myself. If I am right, I am in no danger, as I can use aura to shield myself, if I have to, and I will personally make sure nothing happens to Yellow." He is obviously very serious, and Kihaku nods in agreement with him, sharing his partner's conviction.

Red's expression became grave. If this were any kind of joke he would have been angry, but they had all already seen that the man who had claimed to be a ship's captain was shady. He could also see that Seishin was serious. "But why would he be trying to hurt..."

A sudden jab from Blue's elbow caused him to stop short once Yellow was within ear-shot again and Red fell silent, not wanting to upset her.

"Sorry I kept you all waiting..." she apologized at the sudden silence.

"Don't worry about it. They boys were just getting restless about the competition tomorrow," Green explained with a glance over her shoulder, prompting another nod from the other. "Anyway, it's getting late, so we should all head back to our rooms," she continued in a falsely cheerful tone. Once the group had reached their hotel Green discreetly ushered Yellow into their room and gave the others a quick nod as a sign that they could talk freely before closing the door behind her.


"So... is this why you've been following us around ever since we met on the boat?" Blue asked in his own serious tone.

He nods. "It's part of it, yes. I had wanted to join the tournament as a bit of fun, but then I sensed what the Captain was trying to do and contacted my teacher in order to receive instructions on how to proceed. This was before I discovered Yellow's ability, and I decided to teach her to be able to defend herself, since she could have been his target as well. The other part is not important right now."

Blue let out a groan of minor annoyance. "Fine. I trust that you know better than to try to keep something from the league officials, unlike that Captain, but we'll see if his story checks out come tomorrow. In any case, if find out anything I expect you to either come to me, or any of the other officials."

"Please," Red added to cover for Blue's sternness. "Yellow is our friend and if she's in trouble then we want to know so we can help her."

Blue gave Seishin another stern nod before turning to open the door the the room he and Red would be sharing.

He sighs. "I'm just worried about her, is all. The way she is now, she's not ready for what he will try to do to her, if she is his target." He gestures for him to enter the room. "Get some sleep, we'll talk about it tomorrow." He heads to his own room and Kihaku follows him, and once he enters, he changes into his pajamas, lies down in the bed, and Kihaku does the same in the other bed. As he's laying there, he starts thinking. 'I only hope I'm able to get her ready in time.' With that thought, he sighs and rolls onto his side, staying that way until he eventually falls asleep.

Late that evening and early the next morning, more boats arrived from Johto, Hoenn, Sinoh arrived as well as an additional, unexpected boat from the Orre Region. While a formal invitation to participate in the tournament had been extended to the little-known region a formal RSVP had not been received from any of it's representative. The sudden arrive wasn't a cause for alarm, however, as there was more than enough room to accommodate the additional participants. 

And so, the process of trainers registering and checking into the tournament went on normally. As a result, the Pokemon Center remained steadily at near maximum capacity, but this was also to be expected. It had taken almost an hour waiting in line for Sapphire to reach the front desk for her own turn to register for the World Tournament, but she knew it would be worth it. Ruby had even stood in line beside her the entire time for support. That was why he was here, after all, to support Sapphire as well as his father.

After finally obtaining a registration form, the two quickly found a place to sit down where Sapphire could fill in the required information. "Are ya' sure ya' don't wanna enter with me, Ruby?" she asked one last time before she even made her first pen stroke.

"I'm sure, but you and father should both have fun," he told her. As the son of a gym leader his spot in the tournament had been reserved along with Norman's, but Ruby had declined. The only reason he was here was to support them. "Here, let me groom your Pokemon while you're registering so you can all look your best out there."

Sapphire agreed to this and released Chic for Ruby to work on first, but by the time he had finished Sapphire was already ready to turn in her registration. As the two trainers made their way back to the front desk along with the Blaziken someone bumped into Sapphire, causing her to drop her form. She had curled, auburn hair and wore a pink gown and veil along with an usual, large gold headdress. In spite of her somewhat regal appearance, she bent down to pick up the paper and handed it back to Sapphire, bu but not before glancing it over first.

"Thanks," Sapphire said sheepish before turning to place her registration on the desk.

The woman's lips curled up. "I guess they'll let just about anyone into these tournaments, won't they?" she said. "But it stand to reason that a dumpy trainer would have dumpy Pokemon..."

Both Ruby and Sapphire quickly lifted their heads to retaliate, but the woman had already disappeared. Nurse Joy approached to take Sapphire's registration, only to be stopped by Ruby angrily slamming his palm down on the desk.

"Sign me up, too!"

He wakes up and stretches to loosen up his joints again, and he yawns. "Morning, Kihaku." The Lucario is already awake and standing, looking out of the window, and he climbs out of the bed and gets dressed before putting his hat on and walking over to him. "Ready to go?" Kihaku turns to him and nods. "Well, then let's go meet up with everyone, then." He grabs his room key off of the nightstand, puts it in his pocket, and then walks out the door, Kihaku following closely behind him.

There was a knock at the door shortly after Red had finished getting dressed. Pika jumped up onto Red's shoulder as he opened the door and greeted Seishin and Kihaku with a smile. Pika was the only other one in the room with him, however. Red showed Seishin a chair where he could sit while Kihaku remained standing loyally beside him.

"Blue had another early-morning meeting with all of the Gym Leaders and the League Officials," Red explained. "Apparently, the rest of the boats arrived last night, but something else came up. it wasn't anything bad, but that we should all just go to the opening ceremonies without him."

He looked over to the door that separated their room from Green and Yellow's. "Once the girls are finished getting ready we can go, but I don't know why it takes girls so long to get dressed..."

"...Because some of us just believe in good grooming," Green interjected with a giggle as she opened the door and poked her head through."After all, there are going to be a lot of people at this tournament, so there is no reason we shouldn't look good, right?" She opened the door wider to reveal that while her hat was the same she was wearing a new while blouse with a navy blue vest and a red tie as well as a new skirt that had a red  and white striped pattern along with white leggings and matching red shoes. 

Yellow was standing beside her with her own new outfit. Her poncho had been replaced by a yellow vest that was the same style as the one Green now wore, though her black turtleneck remained underneath as well as her Pokeball holster. Her full length jeans had been replaced by jean shorts and she kept her purple boots but with black leggings underneath. Unlike Green, Yellow was no longer wearing her hat, but had a black ribbon with the yellow stone that had previously been on the necklace Seishin had given her at the base to hold up her ponytail. She didn't say anything but kept her head down with her arms folded in front of her in a shy manner.

"So where is Blue?" Green continued once she had noticed he was gone.

"There was another meeting. But now that you two are ready we should get to the Opening Ceremonies," Red said with a gesture over his shoulder.

He blinks in surprise at Yellow's new appearance, then whistles softly with appreciation. "Wow...." He walks over to her and smiles. "You look amazing." He glances over at Green. "I'm assuming you helped her with this? And you look good, too." Instead of his normal outfit, he is wearing a navy blue sleeveless vest, a black long-sleeved shirt, and his belt with his Poke Ball holster on it, his hat on his head as he smiles at the two of them, most of his grin being directed towards Yellow.

Green smiled back, placing on hand on her hip and the other behind her head to better show off her new clothes. "Of course," she said. "I've been meaning to give Yellow a complete wardrobe overhaul for years now, but one thing or another has always gotten in way.... But still, I don't think that you were exactly the one who she was hoping would notice..." she glanced over at Red with a sigh and Yellow shuffled over to him.

"What do you think, Red?" she asked.

He nodded in a polite manner. "I think it looks nice. But then, I always though that you looked good in your normal clothes, too" Red shrugged. "Anyway, we should get going. The Opening Ceremonies for the tournament will be starting soon."

Yellow began to smile at him but before she could properly thank him, Red turned to open the door for all of them. As soon as the group left the location of the tournament became visible. The entire Southern part of Driftveil City was now flooded with a sea of people eagerly awaiting their turn to enter the stadium as either a participant in the tournament or a spectator.

He stands next to Yellow as he walks out, and then he blinks before whistling in surprise. "Wow.... I knew this was a big event, but I never imagined that there would be this many people." He quickly moves to get in the line of the Trainers competing, carrying Yellow on his shoulders so she isn't lost in the throng of people, and once he is there, he gently sets her back down on the ground. "Sorry about that, Yellow. I just didn't want to get separated from you." Kihaku is right behind him, and the rest of them follow shortly after him.

Yellow gave an uneasy glance towards the other line where the spectators were filing into the stadium. "But I'm not taking part in the tournament..." she said

An official who had been monitoring the lines overheard this  and approached the group. "Miss, if that is true then you'll have to come with me. I"ll show you to your seat in the audience."

"Right...thank you," Yellow nodded sheepishly before turning to the others. "Good luck, everybody. I'll be cheering for all of you," she said as the official lead her away.

Red lifted his hand in a small wave. "Professor Oak is probably somewhere in the audience. I'm sure she'll sit with him," he said, earning a nod agreement from Green.

He shrugs and turns back to face the front of the line. "I guess we'll see her later, then." After a while, both he and Kihaku get to the front of the line, and they file into the arena proper before moving off to one side to let people through, waiting for the rest of them. Once they arrive, he turns and walks up to take his place in the lines of competitors waiting to see the match-ups, Kihaku standing by his side and slightly behind him, leaving room for the next person to stand next to him.

Red and Green were able to quickly rejoin Seishin in the arena proper, but Blue was still nowhere to bee seen. In fact, none of the gym leaders had seemed to have entered the arena yet leaving the large group of competitors to quietly murmur among themselves. Red continued to glace down the lineup of trainers for any sign of Blue until a different voice called out to them.

"Red! Green!"

The to trainers turned around to see Sapphire quickly weaving her way through the crowd while dragging Ruby behind her.

"It's good to see some other familiar faces taking part in the tournament," She greeted with a smile once the two had caught up to their friends from Kanto.

Red nodded. "Blue's taking part in the tournament, but he and the other Gym Leaders are in a meeting right now. Yellow should be somewhere in the audience and this Seishin," he explained with a gesture towards the trainer from Sinnoh.

"we met him on the ferry here and he's been helping us..."

As the introductions continued, one of the stadium cameras turned towards the group and silently zoomed in on each one respectively, as well as Yellow in the audience. Their images were broadcast to a monitor in a remote, underground bunker somewhere in Driftveil City being watched by two men wearing helmets with tinted visors and matching blue armored uniforms. The moving images on the monitor froze and each was accompanied by complete, in-depth profile of each respective trainer.

"Is that them?" One asked.

"Most of them, anyway." The other confirmed. "Ardos confirmed three trainers with a Pokedex, along with a Healer from the Viridian Forest and an Aura Guardian from Sinnoh on his ship. Venus reported another two trainers with a Pokedex from Hoenn and Mirror B. confirmed two more from Johto late last night."

"Seven Pokedex Holders, a Healer and an Aura Guardian? That could trouble."

"There was a third from Johto, but Mirror B. managed to take care of him before the ship docked. Unfortunately, he lost track of the other two completely before we could confirm who they were, but he did at least get us another test subject."

"He'll use it during his first match, then?"

"Of course. All we have to do now is wait."

He smiles at the huge crowd of people in the stands as he looks around. Suddenly, he gets the feeling of being watched, looks around, and he sees his mentor in the stands with his own Lucario. He nods a greeting at him, Kihaku doing the same to the other Lucario. He starts to scan the crowd of people around him, scoping out the competition and seeing who looks strong. When he hears the MC announce that the match-ups are about to be displayed, he focuses on the main screen.

The lights around the stadium dimmed leaving just a spotlight on the Battle Arena where the MC stood. He was a bald man wearing a red vest over a black shirt and dark blue sunglasses over his eyes. "We apologize for the delay, but I am pleased to announce that the first annual Pokemon World Tournament will soon officially be underway," he began.

"Unfortunately, we have received word of two isolated disturbances as you all made your way here. Rest assured that the culprits behind the disturbances have been dealt with and we are doing our best to ensure that there are no others," the MC continued.

"As such, you may have noticed the extra security precautions while entering the arena," he gestured toward the guards standing by the exists and the multiple cameras positioned around the stadium.

"Rest assured, this is all for your protection. With that being said, may I proudly present the esteemed sponsors of this momentous event: The Gym Leaders of Kanto, Johto, Sinnoh and our hosting Unova region."

There was applause all around from the audience and participants as all forty Gym Leaders filed onto the stage and all greeted the audience respectively. The MC applauded as well to show his own respect before he spoke again.

"And on a positive note, I am also pleased to announce that we received a late RSVP from representatives of the Ore Region."

Nine more people made their way up into the arena. They received applause, and smiled politely like all of the other Gym Leaders, however, not one of them seemed specially pleasant. Among the nine was Ardos, the impostor captain, as well as Venus whom Ruby and Sapphire recognized from the previous evening.

"It's her again..." Sapphire glowered. Ruby grabbed her hand to keep her from making a scene.

On the stage Ardos spotted Blue among the line of the Kanto Gym Leaders and shot a smug grin at him before turning back to the audience. Blue furrowed his brow and let out a slightly annoyed groan back.

"Looks like our 'Captain' was telling the truth after all..." Red grumbled.

He glances suspiciously at the captain, the looks at the stands and sees Riley sitting there, also watching the him. He chuckles at the fact that the captain doesn't know that there are now two Aura Guardians in attendance, then he turns to Red and Green and nods his head at the stands. "Do you see the man that is dressed similar to me in the stands? That is my teacher, meaning there are now two Aura Guardians in attendance, so there will always be at least one of us watching the 'captain'." He turns back to the front and looks at the other new arrivals, and he senses the same malevolence from the woman with the strange hair as he did from the 'captain', so he discretely takes a picture of her using his Xtranscirver, the he sends it to Riley's PokeGear with a text-only message following shortly after. "Watch this woman. I sense the same malevolent intent from her as I did from the 'captain'." Looking up into the stands, he sees his teacher nod and turns back to the main screen.

"Ooh, he's your teacher?" Green cooed at the sight of the tall, dark man in the audence.

Red nodded when he also spotted Riley sitting in the stands. He then spotted Yellow sitting just a rew rows away from Rily. Red gave her a small wave when she smiled at him, but he couldn't also help but notice that she was sitting alone. Professor Oak should have also been in the audience somewhere, but there was no sign of him. He chose not to worry about it, however, and turned his focus back towards the arena.

"And now, if I may direct your attention to the display screen, we will now announce the first match-up of the tournament!" the MC cheered, pointing a figure upwards towards the large screen.

On the screen showed a card witch a picture of each participating trainer's face on it. The cards all turned over at once and shuffled to make the match-ups random before they all rejoined into one stack. The top two cards flipped over to reveal the identities of the fist two trainers who would battle.

"And our first lucky competitors are... Mirror B. from the Ore region and a late entry from the Johto Region, Guile Hideout!!"

"...Who?" Red raised an eyebrow in confusion. 'Guile Hideout' sounded like a completely made-up name and the person in the picture wore a suit of armor. When he walked by Red and the others, however, he noticed that the armor only covered the upper half of the mysterious combatant's body. His legs were simply covered by a pair of black cut-off pants and white shoes that almost looked familiar.

Both trainers took their respective side of the arena while the Gym Leaders and the rest of the competitors took a seat in a lower section of the stand to watch.

"Let the music play!" Mirror B. cried out, striking a disco-esque pose before sending out his first Pokemon, a Ludicolo.

The person in the suit of armor only nodded back. He then reached behind his back and pulled out not only a sword or a lance, but a pool cue.

"It's Gold!" Red gaped along with Blue, Green, Ruby and Sappphire.

He looks absurdly at the pool cue, then turns to look at them. "Two questions: Who's Gold, and why is he holding an absurdly long stick?" He's never seen a pool cue before, so he doesn't know what is it that he's holding. He turns to Gold's opponent and just stares at him in confusion. "And what on earth is wrong with that man's hair and clothes?"

"He's one of our friends from the Johto Region; a PokeDex Holder like us!" Red explained with a smile. "and as for that 'stick' of his, just wait and see!"

Green let out a soft hum of mild concern. "But didn't you talk to Gold when we were on the S.S. Anne? I thought he had said that he couldn't take part in the tournament..."

Red's face suddenly became more serious. "Are you saying you think something happened?"

"I'm not sure, but that would explain why he's dressed differently and gone through the trouble of using a fake name... I can't say the same about his opponent, though..." Green made a face at Mirror B.'s apparent lack of fashion sense while Ruby nodded in agreement with a look of mild disgust.

Red murmured his own sound of mild concern. "I wonder if that means that Silver and Crystal are here somewhere, too..." he mused. 

At this suggestion, Red, Green, Ruby and Sapphire all began to scan the crowd of challengers for any sign of Silver's familiar bright red hair or Crystal's unique pigtails, but their was no sign of either. They were all looking in the wrong place, however.

Crystal was in the audience making her way to a lower row of seats when she spotted Yellow and continued to weave her way through the mass of people until she was close enough to call out to Yellow and give her a wave.

Yellow smiled when she finally saw Crystal and waved back, allowing the Capture Specialist to take an empty seat beside her. "It's good to see a familiar face, but I'm surprised you aren't down there with Red and all of the others," Yellow said.

Crystal shook her head. "I'm here to fill in for Professor Oak," she explained. "He couldn't make it to the tournament himself because of some important research, so he asked me to come in his stead. Silver is here, too, but he's over in the 'B' Block. Their battles won't begin until later this afternoon. It's a shame Gold couldn't be here Gold couldn't be here, too, but I heard that something came up at the Pokemon Daycare," she sighed sympathetically before she and Yellow turned their focus back to the arena.

Below, the disguised Gold gave his pool cue a twirl as he got down on one knee and carefully lined the pole up with his Pokeball and shot it into the center of the arena as if it were a billiards ball to reveal a Togekiss while Mirror B. tossed his Pokeball in a more traditional, but still showy fashion, unveiling a Ludicolo.

"Battle... BEGIN!!!" The MC Cried enthusiastically.

He raises an eyebrow at Gold's way of sending out his Pokemon, and the he turns to see which Pokemon Miror has sent out and he turns to Kihaku before whispering. "Watch closely, and learn their attack and defense patterns. I don't want any surprises if we have to go up against one of them." He glances over at Yellow just to make sure she's alright over in the stands and he sees the new arrival, then nudges Red and points at the stands. "I'm assuming that's one of your friends over by Yellow?"

Red nodded to confirm the identity of the new arrival sitting next to Yellow. "Yeah, she's another one of our friends from Johto. I wasn't expecting to see her here, though. Usually she's very busy," he pondered.

Crystal hadn't seemed to have spotted Red among the crowd to acknowledge him in return, however. Her attention was instead on the two trainers in the arena. She could recognize Gold's unique stance anywhere, but she had no memory of him saying that he would be taking part in the tournament.

Down below, Gold;s Pokeball gave a jump from the force of being struck by the pool cue to release him Pokemon in both mid-air and mid-flight, ensuring a speedy first attack.

"Togebo, Air Slash!"

The Jubilee Pokemon responded by sendinga sharp gust of condenced air at it opponent with a heavy flap of its wings. In spite of the Ludicolo's constant, dance-like moments, the attack made contact and caused the Carefree to topple backwrds. It attempted to get back up but collapsed and was forced back into its Pokeball in a flash of red light. The knockout earned a roar of excitement from the audience.

"That's the way!" Sapphire cheered. "Gold made a good choice for his first Pokemon!"

"I told you he was good," Red grinned.

Mirror B. gritted his teeth to suppress a growl."Now I get it. You're that brat from Goldenrod City again. I don't know how you managed to follow me all of the way here, but since you'll already seen my usual dance troop I'll give you a special performance from our newest member..."

His previously annoyed tone was replaced by an eerie grin as Mirror B. tossed his second Pokeball towards the center of the arena and a Sudowoodo emerged, but when Yellow saw it her eyes widened. In addition to having it's own slightly sinister look to it, it's whole body was surrounded by a strange, dark aura she had never seen before. She blinked in case her eyes had simply been playing tricks on her, but when she looked again the dark cloud that hung around the Sudowoodo was still there.

"Something's wrong..." she murmured.

His eyes widen as he sees the dark aura as well, and he visibly shudders at the sudden chill that permeates the air, seemingly coming from the Sudowoodo, and he whispers to himself quietly, but apparently still loud enough for Red to hear. "That isn't natural... No Pokemon should have an aura that dark... It simply shouldn't be possible..." Kihaku is visibly pale, at least as pale as a Pokemon can get, because he senses it as well. He turns to Red. "Red, do you have some way of contacting Blue? I need to talk to him immediately."