Adventures Beyond!

Chapter 71: Qualifiers I- Battle Royale

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Ionic Stadium, Sinnoh

Oliver's eyes shot open.

The Oshawott found himself lying on what felt like grass, staring up at the blue sky above. He gasped for air, feeling like he had just woken up from a nightmare. He quickly sat up, taking note of his surroundings. He seemed to be in the middle of a forest. But why was he there? And where were his friends?

"What happened?"

His eyes widening, he had the idea to check what he had on him. Not only was he making sure he hadn't been mugged while he was unconscious, but it could also give him a few clues on what he was doing in the middle of a forest all alone. Of course, the first place he searched was the fur on his stomach, where his scalchop comfortably sat. Upon looking at his body, though, he realized that there was a bag strap across his chest.

He flipped the bag to his front side, zipping it open. He pulled the item out of it, looking at the notebook now in his paws. That's when it all clicked for him.

"The Ion Cup..." Oliver slowly rose to his feet, "...I'm here!"

"Goooood afternoon, fair competitors!" A sudden voice coming from what sounded like a loudspeaker, exclaimed, "It is quite the beautiful day for a skirmish, I say I say!"

The Oshawott squinted as he heard the voice. He was quick to notice the manner of speaking from the mystery Pokémon speaking to him, as well as all of the other competitors. It sounded foreign. Outdated, even. As though he had been transported to the present day from a time long since passed. Shaking his head and throwing that thought aside, Oliver focused on what the loud voice was saying.

"Now while I am sure you're antsy to duke it out in these preliminaries here, there are a few things to go over before we begin!" The announcer explained, "First and foremost, my friends, I must say, you're quite the bold one for entering this competition here."

Oliver listened to the old-timey voice that came through the speaker. Not only did he hope to get some good information from the announcer, but as it stood, the voice was the only company he seemed to have. There was nobody else around.

"Now, competitors, I'm sure Camila gave you your headbands, yes?" The announcer asked, "Marvelous! Pay close attention to my words, then. You gots a headband on 'ya, right? You'd want to keep that on ya. Your objective for this competition is to be among the first fifty competitors to collect a headband of four different colors before bringing them to Camila at the entrance of the stadium. The colors are red, blue, yellow, and green. Collect 'em all, and you're guaranteed a spot in the first round. If ya don't, that's alright, as we'll go into sudden death. The fifty remaining contestants from that will also move on. We're looking for the top one-hundred, and there is no time limit!"

The Oshawott swiftly put the notebook back in his bag, taking a deep breath in.

"With that being said, here we go!" The announcer exclaimed, "Let the battles begin!"

In what seemed to be an instant, the sounds of attacks being launched and hitting various places could be heard. Oliver flinched as he heard this, his eyes darting around to make sure that there wasn't anyone around him targeting his red headband. Once realizing that he was thankfully on his own, he turned his attention to what his next move would be. Sitting down at the base of one of the many trees around his area, he took a moment to think.

"The best thing I can do is look for one of the others," The Oshawott thought, putting a paw to his chin, "That way, we can watch each other's backs during this thing. Question is, though, how big is this stadium?"