Private/Closed The Pokémon World Championship

[The Kitsune]

Roleplay Discussion: https://pokecharms.com/threads/pokemon-world-championship.20107


Dusk was fast approaching over the Alola Region, but the residents of Akala Island were alive with music and cheer. The preliminaries matches might be at an end, but their seemed to be no lull in the festivities. Innumerable lanterns adorned the shops, casting a warm, vibrant glow over their many patrons as native and tourist alike crowded every inch of HeaHea City, keeping the exhilaration of the Pokemon World Championship alive with conversation, laughter and song. It was a jubilant, idyllic atmosphere...

...unless you were trying to get somewhere in a hurry.

For obvious reason, the location and departure time for the Finalist-exclusive ferry to Aether Paradise had not been publicly announced. Instead, in the wake of their last match, each trainer had been handed a small, folded white business card by event staff, the time and place of their departure written inside in small, black and gold lettering.

CONGRATULATIONS TRAINER!
Please report for the Aether Ferry at:
AKALA FERRY TERMINAL, HEAHEA CITY
FRIDAY 7:00 PM, AST​

Unfortunately for at least one of those esteemed finalists, their final match had only just concluded and that card had only just may its way into their waiting hands.


----------------

FRIDAY, 6:50 PM
HaeHae City, Akala Island


At the far west end of HeaHea city, in the shadow of the Akala Terminal, the Aether 'ferry' bobbed peacefully. It wasn't a actually ferry as it turned out, but a luxurious catamaran. The massive 55 ft. boat offered an open flush-decked saloon and forward deck with comfortable seating enough for 12 in the main gallery, and 6 on the plush flybridge overhead. A polished silver railing encircled the entire open deck, giving its occupants a clear 360 degree view of the moonlit ocean. Whether the Aether Founder was showing off or merely giving her most accomplished guests their due welcome, it was hard to argue with the presentation. This was obviously not the usual ferry and would most certainly not be the to boat to ferry the event participants to Aether Paradise the following day.

A young man stood on the dock near the stern and watched the distant frivolity on the city streets with a stoic expression. Dressed from head to toe in white, the Aether employee certainly stood out from the crowd, seeming to shine even amidst the gathering darkness. Checking the time on his wrist watch, he glanced sternly at the tablet in his hand, reviewing the eight passenger names on his list.

 

[~Aura~Slashz~]

After reaching to the Top 8 in a very much close battle, the last of the final 16, Natalie received a slip from the battle host, the one, the only, Aether Foundation, however sort of late for some reason. That’s because she won it. But yeah, the Aether Foundation. The one that researches ‘good’ for all Pokemon kind. Natalie had never been there before, and was pumped up to see it. The quarter finals, semi finals, and finals were to be hosted at their own personal island and arena.

Natalie quickly rushed to the harbor, and got some cheers from the crowd of people celebrating the World Championship. She arrived at the Terminal, and the Aether boat was sitting there. Wait, not a boat, a freakin’ luxurious freakin’ catamaran! She approached the Aether staff, as she knew what their outfits looked like.

“Hey, is this the Aether boat that this note was telling me to go to?” Natalie asked, showing the Aether staff the note.

 

[WolfFire369]

Dazzling lights blinded her and people crowded her.

"Come to Alola they said," she grumbled as she wriggled around people. "You'll enjoy it they said," she paused to huff and take a second to check her surroundings. Alola was quickly becoming a hassle to her. What with what happened two months ago with that weird tournament thing, and now this one! It seemed Alola revolved around large scale battling events.

She glanced at the reddening sky, wondering how she kept allowing herself to be talked into this kind of thing. Wolf had FINALLY shown up to Alola and talked her into entering this competition, and by 'talked her into' she signed her up for it. Worse yet the older woman then used her second team set, and ended up losing in the top thirty-two. She had even disguised herself and gone in under a different name. But Joe? No... Joe just had to do well enough, and now she was in the top eight... That is if she could ever find the dock... and the boat... and where she even was in this sea of people.

Someone carelessly bumped into her, and she rather gracefully stumbled over her own feet and thudded into a cart. Oh yes, this was going so well... AND TO TOP IT OFF. Alola Was Hot! Way warmer than she liked!

She whimpered softly to herself and attempted to squish up against a building, pouting softly and taking a moment to regain her scattered thoughts. If west was that way then the docks should be........ over.... there? She clutched her backpack straps, staring blankly ahead. Yeah, sure... that way...

 

[SharkWithClawz]

Anthos strolled alongside Sunny sipping a delicious tropical smoothie. Despite the Alolan heat he still wore a black sprinting jacket. Heat never bothered the trainner it only gave him an exuse to constantly eat cold treats.

He was pleased with the red shorts and the white Aloan Richu t-shirt he had bought. As he made his way to the fancy ferry his thoughts raced. Alola was an exilerating place. So far his team had preformed very well. Anthos supposed that a former Johto champion would be expected to preform perfectly.

"Well I can't wait to take a nap. How about you big guy?" The Joleteon walking next to Anthos jumped snapped electricity around itself. Clearly it was still rarig for a good battle.

Anthos smiled and continued on until he reached the docks. Fancy ride. This Aether Paradise certainly had money and an asthetic. Being his forsf time in Alola Anthos knew next to nothing about the Aether Paradise. He'd heard some things here and there but now he could judge them for himself.

"Up, up and away we go Sunny." Anthos said as he made his way to the ferry.

 

[Eis]

For what must have been the fifth time that evening, Sonya checked the time on her Pokétch to see how much longer she had to wait before the ferry would start boarding. Her match was one of the earlier ones in the bracket, and since she really didn't feel like dealing with a crowded city the researcher decided to just head straight to the docks and wait. Thankfully it seemed that she only had ten minutes more to wait for the other Top 8 trainers; Sonya liked to think she was a patient woman, but even she was dying of boredom after nearly an hour of scribbling in her notebook. Normally she saved the pages exclusively for research notes, but after the first few rounds had passed she began using pages in the back of her book for battle strategies.

"...Heh, maybe I should've just stuck to being a trainer all along." Sonya laughed at her own joke. No, she wouldn't give up her research for the world. Though she would have to consider making a comeback to the pro circuits after this. Sonya honestly didn't expect to get as far as she did in the tournament. After all, she had stopped entering tournaments shortly after she started her independent career, though she still trained her Pokemon regularly. The only reason she accepted the invite was her keen interest in the tournament's sponsor, the Aether Foundation. This was a chance to get close to one of the largest Pokémon conservation organizations in the world, and now she was one boat trip away from seeing the Aether Paradise in person. She may even get to meet the CEO herself! It almost felt like a dream. Still, she couldn't help but feel like she was just a bit over her head, what with the other trainers being former and current champions.

Out of the corner of her eye, Sonya noticed a much younger woman approach the nearby Aether employee. One of the champions themselves in fact. Sonya believed her name was...Hopkins, wasn't it? She distinctly remembered someone by that name taking the title in Sinnoh a while back. She was a former champion, but a champion nonetheless. Sonya wondered to herself how she would compete against that level of strength.

Well, if nothing else she would get some good data out of it. Sonya leaned back against one of the dock's posts and waited for the other trainers to start pouring in.

 

[Captain Cardboard]

Josephine wasn't the only one affected by the Alolan heat. Near some benches on a dock, a person that could easily be mistaken for a strange homeless person was sleeping, with a Plusle curled up on his stomach. The swordsman known as Robin had competed in the first round, and as far as he knew was the first one to arrive to the dock. He had only meant to stay and rest there a few minutes at the start of the day, but what had started as a short rest had quickly changed to a multi-hour nap, right on the dock. Luckily, that nap was coming to an end.

Robin blinked awake, slowly sitting up and rubbing a hand through his blue hair. What time was it? How long had he been out? A quick check of his watch revealed the time to be around 6:50. Perfect. Internal clock, you're always there for me. Robin thought with a small smile. On his lap, a Plusle let out a small yawn and looked around groggily.
"Welcome back from Dreamland, Cherry." Robin said, gingerly picking up the Plusle. Cherry looked around the dock, still half asleep, before falling back asleep in Robin's arms. The heat was having a bit of a drowsy effect on them both.

The blue haired swordsman stood up, putting on his backpack and sword as he kept Cherry cradled in his arms. Now, this was Akala docks... so where was the ferry? No ferries seemed docked here, only normal boats and a real sleek looking catamaran. Robin checked the paper he had received once again, just to make sure this was indeed the right place. It seemed right. Robin looked around, and this time noticed the white uniform of an Aether employee standing near the catamaran. Bingo. Rubbing some sleep out of his eyes, Robin began to make his way over to the employee. It looked like a few others were already here as well, though... An older teen was already talking to the Aether employee, with a young man directly approaching as well. Robin decided to hang back as well, and wait for it to clear up a little bit around the Aether employee. The swordsman took a seat on a bench near the boat, deciding to watch and focus on not falling back asleep.

 

[The Kitsune]

The Aether employee turned with a ready smile as Natalie approached, at complete contrast with his previous scowl. The change was so smooth, his enthusiasm was either genuine or a very, very practiced act. "Yes Madam. This is the transport for the P.W.C. finalists to Aether Paradise." With slight bow, he accepted the card from Natalie with a graceful hand and added, "May I have your name please, Miss?"

Seemingly alerted by the sound of her comrades greeting, another staff member appeared from the lounge on the aft deck. Wearing the same Aether uniform and a polite expression, the young woman stepped onto the passerelle between the dock and the boat, ready to welcome their guests on board.

 

[StormingCobra]

Kaleb was livid.

He had made it to the Top 8 of the Championship. He worked very hard on every battle. And now he had to go there?

He had been trying to avoid the Aether Foundation since he was 15. And now he had to return. ‘Hopefully nobody recognizes me as the kid who shot down their helicopter,’ he thought to himself.

He walked over to the catamaran. He boarded the ship, trying to conceal his face from the view of the employees.

 

[~Aura~Slashz~]

“I’m Natalie, Natalie Hopkins to be specific. I got to the Top 8, so that’s exactly the reason why I am here on this night.” Natalie replied to the Aether staff in front of the catamaran. It was just about to be 6:51.

Time passes so slow or fast for some reason, Natalie thought.

 

[The Kitsune]

The Aether employee must have had the full list of names memorized by now as he gave a curt nod immediately following Natalie's name. Tucking the tiny white card away in a pocket, he stepped aside and swept his other arm toward the passerelle behind him. "Welcome, Miss. Natalie. If you would step onboard, my associate here, Miss. Cassie, will show you to the lounge and explain the amenities. We will departing once all of our guests have arrived." Waiting for Natalie to pass, he turned back toward the crowds gathered near the dock with an expectant air.

The female employee, Cassie, welcomed Natalie with a warmer smile than her comrade, gesturing professionally at the various features of the catamaran as they approached. "Welcome. If you would like to make yourself comfortable in our aft lounge, we have a full menu of food and beverages available from our galley, completely complimentary. Our chef, Mr. Troy will be happy to assist you." With a friendly wave, Cassie indicated another male employee with short blonde hair standing in the full service kitchen beyond the lounge. 'Troy' returned the wave with a dashing show of white teeth to match his uniform.

"We also have 8 single occupancy cabins below if you would prefer to rest," Cassie added, indicating the stairs that led down from the main deck on either side of the lounge. "However, once all of our passengers are on board, we will be making an announcement in the main lounge to explain the our journey to Aether Paradise and your schedule once you arrive."

 

[EnigmaticMissingNo.]

Alex was one of the first to finish up their matches and had decided to spend the time training his Pokemon while he waited. Alex yelled out a few commands to the Pokemon on the makeshift battlefield a little whiles away from Heahea City, "Porygon-Z use Tri-Attack! Gengar counter with Shadow Ball!" The two Pokemon's blasts clashed with each other, the resulting explosion knocked backwards and had left both exhausted, in fact most of the team had been trained to a point Alex typically works to avoid. "Okay now repeat, we need to get these moves down before we head to the finals." The two Pokemon ignored his commands and instead sat down to rest, they looked over to Alex and tried to show that they weren't going to continue.

"What's wrong? Do you need some healing items or is it something else?" Alex thought about the situation, helooked at all of his Pokemon and realized his mistake. The championship had worried him so much that for a little while he forgot about making sure his Pokemon were fine. "Oh Arceus, I'm sorry guys this whole thing's gotten to my head. After all we barely pulled through that last battle I guess I just needed to make sure that we were up for the challenge. How's about this, you guys can come with me on the ferry and enjoy everything they have there as well." Alex only had Leafeon, Gengar and Porygon-Z out for training so luckily this venture would probably be much easier than bringing his larger Pokemon onto the ferry.

"Okay well let's head to the docks and the ferry, it should be easy to spot the Aether Foundation employees.” Alex took a little look around and it wasn’t too long before he spotted a person in the Foundation’s uniform. He went up to the person, “Hey there I’m one of the 8 finalists, I also have a Gengar, Porygon-Z and Leafeon who’d like to board the ferry.” Alex took a glance at his satchel, “I might also have a Feraligator, Goodra and Ninetails coming on as well.”

 

[SharkWithClawz]

"Anthos, pleasure to be here. I'd love to see that lounge as well. Maybe get another smoothie too... "

Anthos arrived just as Natalie was getting the rundown of the ship. He was eager to meet everyone but first he wanted to check out the accommodations. Anthos rarely got to go on fancy trips. He'd gotten used to the low budget traveling that lot's of trainners experienced.

Sunny gave growled a bit at the Aether Employee. Sparks snapped and popped around the spry little Jolteon. Anthos paid no attention. Most people that Sunny met he was rude too. Eventually he'd warm up. Some other trainners were approaching and by the looks of it Anthos was not the first to arrive. He gave a friendly nod to Natalie and brief wave to Alex.

 

[Eis]

In a matter of moments, trainers began flocking from the crowd to board the Aether Foundation's catamaran. Sonya made a mental note of each trainer she spotted as one by one they came out of the woodwork. Well, as nice as some of these trainers seemed, Sonya was much more interested in speaking directly to the man in front of the boat. While the Aether Foundation was world renowned for their great contributions to the conservation and protection of Pokémon life, very little was known about the inner workings of the organization. Getting to see the Aether Paradise firsthand was a once in a lifetime experience, sure, but rubbing shoulders with some of the officials might get her some insider information...even if the man was just a standard employee, any info was good info.

She decided that now was as good a time as any to introduce herself. Part of her wanted to make it quick so as to get out of the Alolan heat faster, but in times like this professionalism comes first...well, unless you were just here for the tournament. That pro-trainer career was becoming more and more tempting by the minute. Making her way over to where the ferry was tied, Sonya cleared her throat to grab the attention of the Aether employee, holding her invitation card out to speed things along.

"Excuse me, sir? My name is Sonya Welles, one of the top eight finalists and an independent researcher. Would you happen to be the head staff member here? I have a few questions I would like to ask concerning the Aether Foundation, if it isn't too much trouble." Leave it to Sonya to come off much too strongly. Hopefully she didn't mess up her shot already.

 

[~Aura~Slashz~]

“Thanks, Cassie.” Natalie replied, coming just right in the boat. She got a friendly nod from another trainer, as she then gave another one back.

She was quite hungry from winning her match, a cracker snack was quite not filling. Her Pokemon were also hungry too, so that was something she needed to take care of.

She went to the kitchen on the catamaran, which then she saw a chef at the front. This was the one that Cassie talked about.

“Hello! What would you like today?” Troy, the chef, asked.

“May I have a menu?” Natalie asked.

“Sure.” Troy then said, handing a menu to Natalie. After looking at the menu for a bit, Natalie decided what she wanted.

“May I have Vegetable Noodles and six Pokemon Piplup food?” Natalie asked then after looking at the menu and putting it down on the table, closed.

“Sure, right away!” Troy replied.

After a while of cooking the food was ready. Natalie grabbed it when the bell rung, and she grabbed the food.

“Thank you!” Natalie said to Troy.

“No problem, ma’am.” Troy replied.

She let out all of her Pokemon and went at a big table, since her Pokémon were quite big. She then ate and then her Pokemon did too.

 

[The Kitsune]

"Of course, sir." Daniel nodded politely as Alex approached and explained, his eyes lingering shrewdly over the three pokémon in question. "All of your pokémon will be welcome on the main deck and lounge. Below deck however, we do have a weight limit of 100 kg. per pokémon for passenger safety. If I could just see your Finalist invitation card and have your name for verification-" In the middle of greeting Alex, the Aether employee threw out a cautionary hand to stop Anthos, who seemed eager enough to walk right onto the passerelle without checking in. In fact, numerous passengers seemed to be descending upon the area all at once now.

"Oh, I'm sorry sir. If you wouldn't mind, If Everyone," he raised his voice a bit but still managed to maintain the professional tone of politeness. "would please have their Finalist invitation card out and ready, we'll have you all checked in and on board shortly." Lowering his eyes to Alex again, he offered an apologetic smile and began checking each ready trainer in.

Daniel's eyes gave the barest flash at Sonya's final words, but he recovered quickly; the forced brightness in his smile covering the brief slip of unease. "Of course. Once all our passengers are on board and announcements are made, I would be happy to answer all of your questions."

 

[Eis]

Sonya had built a significant amount of her career on her ability to read Pokemon. Through over a decade of dedicated study, the researcher prided herself on her skill of determining what a Pokemon was thinking or feeling based on certain instinctual mannerisms. Unfortunately, this skill did not carry over to humans in the slightest, so the gleam in Daniel's eyes went completely unnoticed by Sonya. At the moment, she was just glad to have found someone to probe-er, talk to over the course of the trip. It looked like the man had his hands full at the moment though, and since Sonya was eager to get inside anyway she decided to leave her questions for later.

"Understood, thank you for your time. I'll let you get back to...that situation." She gestured to the group of trainers that had ignored Daniel. After handing her card over to the ponytailed man, Sonya shuffled past the various trainers that were already crowding the catamaran into the lounge area. Might as well wait for the last few trainers to board just to speed this process along.

 

[Captain Cardboard]

Robin watched the trainers approaching. Most looked late teens, early twenties. He got the feeling that all of them were pretty tough. Which was good, they should be since they were the top 8. Being tired of sitting on the dock and waiting, Robin decided to approach the Aether Employee letting people on.
"Hey." Robin said, showing him the Finalist Invitation. "I'm Robin Deux."
Daniel looked at the invitation then nodded, waving him onto the boat. Robin nodded in return, and walked up the ramp and onto the catamaran. It looked just as nice from on the boat as it did on the dock, which was to say, still really nice.

The blue haired swordsman took a glance into lounge to notice that it looked quite crowded. Scratch that, it looked extremely crowded. There was only three people in the lounge, but that was not what was crowded. One of them, a girl in a green sweatshirt, was sitting around a table with all six of her Pokemon out. Robin wouldn't have had a problem with it, except for the fact that the girl had two HUGE Pokemon. A Tyranitar and a Hydregon, to be exact. How on earth had she managed to fit them into the lounge anyway? It was nothing shorter than a miracle that the boat wasn't sinking from the weight of the combined Pokemon. Robin shot a glance at a shorter, blonde haired woman around his age, as if to say can you believe this kid? Still, the swordsman wasn't too peeved about it. Smiling and shaking his head Robin sat down on the seats outside the lounge, setting down his Plusle in his lap and putting his bag and sword next to him. Cherry was still sound asleep. Looking up, Robin noticed the blonde haired trainer lady was nearby.

"Hello." Robin said to Sonya. "It's a nice day today, isn't it?"

 

[WolfFire369]

Joe groaned as she turned down yet another dead end alley way.

"Arceus find me..." she grumbled turning and eyeing the crowded streets. She sighed and started to head back to the crowed, when a sudden idea popped into her mind.

"Ace!" she smiled, suddenly delighted with her sudden idea. It was amazing honestly, her ability to think up such weird things, but completely forget about her companions special abilities.

The Togetic spawned before her, shaking himself out and hovering in the air. "Togi!" he shouted smiling joyfully at the sight of his 'mother'.

"I need you to do me a favor bud..." she hesitated then smiled guiltily. "I'm uh... I'm lost... mind flying up above the crowd and finding the docks?"

The Togetic covered his mouth and giggled as Joe's folly, then quickly zipped up into the air. Seriously, Joe was the one to figure out the secretive Lance, but she hadn't remembered Ace could just fly above the crowed she couldn't see over.

"Ti-bee!" Ace shouted pointing with his tiny arm. Regrettably he was pointing in the other direction, but he zipped off before she could contemplate her complete lack of direction. She hurried after him, trying her hardest to move through the crowed without getting shouldered, elbowed, kicked, or worse yet just plain run into.

 

[Eis]

Sonya had been doing her best to ignore the girl gorging food with her Pokemon: just looking at that Tyranitar nearly sent her into a panic attack thinking that the boat would sink. Either the Aether Foundation had more advanced tech than she initially thought, or she desperately needed to review how buoyancy worked (as if the proportions of Wailord weren't confusing enough). She did notice that someone nearby, a blue haired man carrying a Plusle, was similarly shocked at the wild display in front of them. In her stunned silence, all Sonya could really manage was a nod of acknowledgement to Robin. Former champion or not, Hopkins was definitely still a teenager. At least it made her a bit less intimidating, Sonya supposed. After a moment, the blue haired man took a seat next to her, placing his Plusle snugly in his lap and his luggage (was that a sword?) beside him, and started speaking to Sonya. Sonya quickly replied, eager to take her mind off of the prospect of drowning.

"About average I would say. A little warm for my tastes, but I guess that's Alola for you." Well, being from Sinnoh herself Sonya wasn't the biggest fan of heat in general, but honestly! She hadn't experienced sunlight half this intense since her last expedition in Hoenn. 'Fun in the sun' her foot. Sonya gave the man a more focused analysis. Unlike the champions that seemed to litter half the bracket, Sonya clouldn't quite recall this man's name. Sure, she had some recollection of a blue haired trainer while watching some of the earlier matches, but for whatever reason she just couldn't remember.

"Forgive me, but I don't think we've been introduced yet." She held out her hand to Robin, careful to keep her gaze averted from the nearby feast. "My name is Sonya Welles. Might I ask your name?" Okay, maybe she was laying the formality on a bit thick. But what good were several years of accrued academic reputation if you didn't get to play the part every now and then?

 

[Captain Cardboard]

"Robin. Robin Deux." Robin said, smiling. He shook Sonya's hand. She was dressed a little unusually, at least compared to other trainers here. While the others dressed in simple clothes, Sonya did look more like someone about to head out into the jungle. Robin thought that was pretty cool, as he enjoyed traveling himself. She must be pretty tough as well, considering that she's made it to the top 8 in a tournament like this. It wasn't a walk in the park for Robin, at least.
"Is this your first time in Alola?" Robin asked.