Tournament Round One

[bravenewmods]

The first day of the tournament dawns bright and sunny, a stark contrast to the mood of the citizens of Union as they exit the gates of the city. Many of them stare at Team Evolution with open suspicion - what exactly were they trying to demonstrate here? Regardless, it appears that the people of Union would hold their own session first. As the 12 trainers take their positions, the crowd is waved back by one of the Guardsmen, holding a pole out to his side as a makeshift barrier.

"Please, for your own safety, stay behind this area, everyone. The tournament will begin shortly."

From the opposite side, the members of Team Evolution politely troop in, pausing at a short distance. As before, Rory stands at the front of the group, accompanied by Crystal and Sakina, each of whom were, if not familiar to the people of Union by now, at least recognizable.

The Guardsman, who apparently has been chosen to act as the judge, speaks once more once the hubbub has died down.

"The Council wishes to thank all who have agreed to take part in this demonstration and all who have come to lend support. To Team Evolution, it is our desire that you come to understand what it means to our city to be a Pokémon trainer, and what it is from which we draw our strength. Though our philosophies may differ, we are nonetheless united in our humanity. We take heart in having made contact with our fellows after so many long years, and we pray that the gods may look upon this meeting with favor."

A pause.

"Now... without further ado, let the battles begin!"

((The first round of the tournament will end in 48 hours, ICly. Please let us know who the winner will be by 2/26 here and we'll post the second round match-ups as soon as we can. The second round of the tournament will begin ICly 2/27.))

Comments

General Spectators

[bravenewmods]

[ladyofluminosity]

[Lux is toward the front end of the crowd, a young Eevee in her arms, eagerly awaiting the start of the tournament. Her hair actually down for once, she looks somewhat fired up, Annabel the Eevee likewise excited.]

[improvings]

[Laurent was practically dragged here. He'd much rather be studying, but Lux had decided this was the day to get the nerdlet out of his shell. So he's standing next to Lux by the pen, his Wooper peeking from under the brim of his hat from where he's standing on Laurent's shoulder. Shidora looks excited at least, he'll party with you Lux.]

Is it true? [He tries to ask over the crowd, leaning in.] They use some kind of storage system for their Pokemon...?

[ladyofluminosity]

[Pumped for the fighting to start, she doesn't register what Laurant says at first, so it takes a moment for her to respond.]

...huh? Sorry, what did you say?

[a_gentle_boy]

[A boy standing nearby looks a bit worried - his eyes are focused on one contestant in particular. His own Eevee sits on his shoulders and cranes its neck to watch.]

...

Just twelve people... I guess everyone else was too suspicious to want to try.

What do you think they want from this?

[naturaldissension]

Half of them are no more than children...

[He murmurs, his ever-pervasive smile bearing a slight hint of amusement.]

Is this what Union seeks to show us...?

[bnw_sheepy_npcs]

Children have the potential to become something great, when given the right opportunities.

[blade_psychic]

Kuwabara is stuck somewhere in the middle of the crowd, muttering to himself about not participating or even being able to get a good view, but his Purrloin, Koto, is happily perched on his shoulder, eyes sparkling and licking her lips in anticipation of the oncoming violence.

"...don't even see what the point is, I could fight just as well as any of the pokemon, just because mine aren't- hey, I think I know those two."

[faithful_kitsune]

[Ran sits in the back, watching the goings on. She's never really seen people fight each other with Pokemon. How will they do...?]

Ezreal vs. Marisa

[bravenewmods]

Re: Ezreal vs. Marisa

[indy_wannabe]

The battle had already been fierce, and as Jungler went down to Marisa's Jolteon Ezreal knew it was coming down to his own partner.

"All right! Time to show you my own Spark! Let's go buddy!"

Elekid appeared from the Warp Band in a flash of light and immediately charged forward.

"Swift!"

A barrage of stars exploded toward Marisa's Jolteon.

[stardustreverie]

Marisa frowned a bit even as her Jolteon dodged about the stars the best she could, getting hit even with her speed. She shook it off and a determined look as she called out to her own partner.

"We won't go down that easily! Come on Spark, ya can do it! Pin Missile!"

After Jolteon escaped the stars it puffed up and sent charged spikes from it's fur towards the Elekid. It wasn't often Marisa felt nervous about a battle with another Enlightened but when she did, it usually was a good one.

Imogen vs. Hiroshi

[bravenewmods]

[all_onis_are_true]

Hiroshi seemed to recall a time where he would have waltzed into a situation like this with hardly a care in the world. Confident in everything he did, he could have easily tackled a situation like this with ease. Now, however, his heart was practically beating out of his chest. He looked again at the crew he'd brought in with him, wondering if the training had been enough. Guertena seemed distracted as usual, Martena worryingly cocky. Only Takuro seemed to be appropriately focused for this fight.

Can I really win this? What if I lose? What if somebody gets hurt? All sorts of what-ifs and self-doubts ran through his head. Victory counted on him in the end, right? His capacity to command and strategize? What if he couldn't even do that? What if --

A familiar claw on his pants leg. He looked down at Takuro, who shook his head, then smiled wryly at him and shrugged. Hiroshi, of course, couldn't understand a word he said, but on some level he wondered if Takuro was trying to tell him not to worry, that they would do their parts too. That winning or losing, he wouldn't know until he tried.

Hiroshi wished it was as simple to think about it as that.

[for_realsies]

Imogen, deep down, was incredibly nervous of what would happen next. She was used to eyes on her, and an audience, but most of the time she had full control of what was seen. Here, she shared a stage with an uncontrollable element, what if he was better, what if she was made a fool of.

Then she remembered why she was here, to win and get close enough to the Evolution Pokemon to try and talk to them. To show them they were wrong, and that they should change their ways.

So with that thought in her heart, she skipped and danced her way out to the battlefield. Airheaded and carefree to those around her, that didn't know how her mind worked, dancing to music nobody else can hear... exactly how she wants to be seen. Totally and completely unthreatening.

"Hey! Hiroshi! Good luck!"

Levi vs. Fai

[bravenewmods]

[comparative_insanity]

For all that he's been a bit of a bundle of nerves leading up to the tournament, Fai looks excited and alert as he watches the people and pokémon mill around him. The three pokémon chosen for the occasion all seem to show varying signs of excitement as well. Woolly is orbiting him at speed, his high-speed batbatbatbatbatbatbat managing to sound rather like maniacal laughter. Mr Sunshine is jumping up and down, rolling around on the ground, barking excitedly. Babycakes is far too dignified for this sort of behavior, but Fai can tell from the way she holds her flower tighter than normal and tries not to smile that she's just as excited as the rest of them.

He does feel a thrill of anxiety when he gets closer to his opponent, though. That intangible, somehow blank presence can only mean one thing; he's a Dark type. But that doesn't matter, he reminds himself, because they aren't supposed to be fighting. So instead he smiles, although judging from the expression on his opponent's face, he doubts that he'll get much of a smile back.

Fai knows he's at a disadvantage, being the first to pick a pokémon to send out, but well, hopefully he'll be able to turn things around soon enough. "Mr Sunshine, if you would be so very kind?" The Houndour snorts at him, as if politeness is an insult to such a great and noble warrior, but he does indeed step forward.

[springcleaning]

Levi's standing across from Fai, looking grumbly as usual. He hadn't been able to resist entering the contest. He was too bullheaded and arrogant not to. Even though he only had two Pokemon, he was confident. His Whirlipede, Bug, is resting by his feet. Levi even has one boot up on Bug's shell. His Swinub, Romeo, is chilling next to his other ankle. Romeo looks super bored though, Bug is way more into it.

"All right, fuckers. Bug's up first. Make sure you dodge any fire, this guy's bound to be faster than Gunsmoke." The Commander's Houndour was... pretty slow. He picks up his foot and... promptly kicks the Whirlipede out from under him, Bug spinning wildly and bolting into the arena.

Feliks vs. Yang

[bravenewmods]

[niepokonany]

He'd lost his temper at the man from Team Evolution, but Feliks was all smiles on the morning of the tournament. After all, he'd always been one for a good show--and this was bound to be one, with all the strange goings-on that had led up to this point. He'd dressed the part of a spectacle from head to toe, with his newest coat on, his boots polished to a bright gleam, his hair held out of his eyes on one side with a slightly over the top decorative clip.

He walked in with Jadwiga on his shoulder, flanked by Emilia on his right and Danuta on his left, waving to anyone he knew, eating up the attention. Might as well while he could, he thought.

After all, once they got started, he wasn't going to be the star of this show. His girls were going to steal it right out from under him, and show any smug redheaded know-it-all to look down on them.

"Ready?" he asked, turning his attention from the crowds. Then he grinned, bumping his forehead against Jadwiga's horn. "Trick question, I totally know you are. Go kick some butt, I'll be right here cheering you on!"

[ember_celica]

"Totally ready!"

Yang's triumphant shout echoed back. She raised her fist; she had no armor on it, and left Ember Celica back home. She wasn't fighting herself, even if she wanted to. She walked in, her two Pokémon trailing after her. Miller the Eevee paced next to her, looking deadly serious. Hex the Misdreavus hovered after, looking proud. Yang looked at Feliks, then she smiled.

She crossed her arms over her chest, and she nodded at Feliks. "Let's do this!" she called out. "I'm ready. Go get 'em, guys! I'm rooting for you!"

And wishing, a little, she could fight with them. But, that was Yang.

Ky vs. Melaka

[bravenewmods]

[makeitquick]

[ Melaka signed up for this more to try to gain understanding than anything. She's always fought herself, so the fact that the pokemon were fighting independent of her was really a daunting prospect as far as she was concerned - though Lurks, Sneak, and Slugger all seemed eager to prove themselves as they were lined up in front of her when it came time for her match up...

Still though, dignified. With nothing better to wear which seemed formal enough she just was wearing her Ranger jacket which may pr may not be very out of place here. She has no idea. Still, though tense, her and her team are ready for the match up.

Heaven or Hell - Round 1 - Let's Rock! (...sorry can't resist)

[bejustorbedead]

[Ky steals a brief glance to the audience as he - enters, it's very easy to pick out his cousin from the crowd - and he still has his eye on team evolution.

If there's tension in him when he and his team entered - he didn't show it. Jacob and Isaac are at his feet, each giving the other an almost warning glare before turning to their opponents. He held an open hand out and smiled]

Win or Lose, Let's make this a good fight.

[With that, Jacob steps forward, positioning himself as the first opponent]

Reimu vs. Sync

[bravenewmods]