The town of Jubilife City, home to Professor Rowan's lab in the Sinnoh region.
Crobat flapped its wings, slowly descending with Ace into the small town. The town was already packed with people. News of the Battle of the Belliards had spread, and many had traveled great distances to compete for the generous rewards. Seeing an opportunity, some vendors had set up stalls around the competition venue, making the area as lively as a temple fair.
"This is really over the top," Ace said, eating some skewers with Crobat, taking turns taking bites as they walked toward the registration area.
The queue for registration was as long as a dragon. After a quick look, Ace sighed and joined the back of the line.
Even with the long line, the process was quick. It was Ace's turn in less than ten minutes. He registered his name, received a number card, and was done.
"D-88. Tsk, there are really a lot of people," Ace said, tossing the card in his hand. While he was there, he also learned the rules of the competition.
First, the competition was a formal tournament. Killing an opponent's Pokémon was forbidden, and the winner would be the trainer whose opponent's Pokémon was first rendered unable to battle. Second, because there were so many participants and the entry requirements were so low, the competition had to be divided into multiple venues.
There were six venues, A through F, with 100 people in each. They would first have a preliminary round to eliminate some participants before moving on to the official group stage. After the group stage, the remaining competitors would proceed to the final battles, where they would compete for the prize money.
Ace lost interest after hearing the simple rules. For him, all that mattered was winning; everything else was irrelevant.
Holding his number card, Ace and Crobat went back to the food stalls. The skewers they had bought earlier were delicious, so he decided to buy more and see what other tasty snacks were available. After walking around for half an hour, Ace and his Pokémon were all carrying food and eating as they went. They soon arrived at one of the battlefields prepared by the organizers.
Ace glanced over and saw that people were already battling inside. Intrigued, Ace walked closer, and from the discussions of the onlookers, he learned the purpose of the battlefield. The competition was still two days away, and this particular battlefield was a gauntlet. If you could defeat twenty consecutive challengers and collect their number cards, you could skip the preliminary rounds and advance directly to the group stage.
"That's a pretty good idea. It saves a lot of energy," Ace said, nodding. He was very interested in this method.
One might think that someone could just bribe people to fake their losses to get into the group stage. While possible, it wasn't realistic. You had to defeat twenty people in a row, and your opponents weren't pre-selected. Anyone in the crowd who felt they were stronger could step up to challenge you. If you tried to arrange twenty opponents and someone discovered the fraud and challenged you, your reputation would be ruined.
Soon, the match on the battlefield ended. The winner, a trainer with a Lopunny, collected his opponent's number card and smiled. "Who's next?"
"I'll go," Ace said, raising his hand, then walking into the battlefield with his Pokémon.
The opponent looked at Ace, who was still eating as he walked, and said helplessly, "Hey, friend, maybe finish your food first?"
Ace waved his hand, folded the paper bag, and set it aside. He smiled faintly. "No need. I'll eat it after the battle. It won't get cold."
The opponent was stunned for a moment before he realized Ace was looking down on him.
"Heh, let's see if your skills are as big as your mouth!" the opponent said angrily, throwing out a Poké Ball. A Floatzel appeared on the field.
All four of Ace's Pokémon were with him, three of them weak to Water types and Crobat weak to Ice, so the opponent's intention was clear.
"Floatzel, huh... Alright, Combusken, you're up."
Hearing Ace's command, Combusken handed its snack to Ace and walked into the battlefield.
"Lazy, without any fighting spirit, and you think you can win..." the opponent began to mock the lackadaisical Combusken, but his words caught in his throat.
The reason was simple: when Combusken and Ace entered a battle state, a powerful pressure emanated from them. Floatzel took a step back. Even with the type advantage, it felt like it couldn't win against Combusken. If Ace could read Floatzel's thoughts, he would have given it a thumbs-up. After all, that Floatzel was at most level 32 or 33, while Ace's Combusken was level 48!
"Aqua Jet!" The opponent attacked first, using a fast Aqua Jet to test Combusken.
"Bounce." Combusken pushed off its legs, leaping high into the air and dodging the attack. In mid-air, it spun around and delivered a precise Sky Uppercut to Floatzel's neck. A surge of force sent Floatzel crashing to the ground. Its vision went black, and it was immediately unable to battle.
"Holy cow!"
"Is this for real?"
"Is Floatzel really that weak?"
"No way, I just lost to that Floatzel!"
"Then..."
"Damn, that Combusken is terrifying!"
Combusken used the momentum from the attack to leap and land back by Ace's side. It took the snack from Ace's hand and started eating again, just as Ace had said: eat after the battle, it won't get cold.
In the outer crowd, Cynthia glanced at Ace with a hint of surprise, but when she saw his Pokémon lineup, she gave a wry smile. "It's not that group of Pokémon, is it? It seems you're here to train your new ones."
Cynthia looked at her Lucario, and Lucario looked back at her. Both trainer and Pokémon saw the fierce fighting spirit in each other's eyes. They were not intimidated by Ace's strength; instead, they were more motivated. If this were the finals, Cynthia would have stepped up without hesitation to have a great battle with Ace.
But not now. Just as Ace was here to train his new Pokémon, Cynthia also needed plenty of battles to fully integrate the results of her and her Pokémon's special training.
"See you in the finals."
Cynthia quietly remained in the crowd, watching the battles on the field. She would not participate in the gauntlet; every battle in the preliminary rounds was an opportunity for her and her Pokémon to get in sync.