Adventures Beyond!

Chapter 73: Qualifiers III- Sudden Death

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Ionic Stadium, Sinnoh

Three days.

It had been three days since the preliminary round had begun. Oliver, who had been keeping a close eye on the rising and falling of the sun each day, was sure of this fact. Despite it having been three days, though, the Oshawott managed to keep ahold of his original red headband, and even found where the entrance of the Ionic Stadium was. Though, it wasn't like he had all of the headbands he needed. He couldn't exactly leave when he was only in possession of a red and yellow headband.

It was all his fault. He had been too focused on not getting his own headband stolen, that he had opted to avoid battling altogether unless absolutely necessary. He didn't see this as a bad choice, though, as he was able to conserve energy, as well as collect berries along the way so that he wouldn't grow hungry or dehydrated with all of the walking around he had done.

Despite being in a healthy condition, though, Oliver still felt quite disheveled. While he and his friends did travel through the wilds of Sinnoh many times over the course of their journey so far, he never had to curl himself up in a bush during the night to get some sleep. He usually had the tent that he would share with Jacob and Logan, which was joined by the tent housing Sophie right beside it.

Oliver let out a sigh as he continued to walk through the forest within the Ionic Stadium. He couldn't help but to think about his friends, wondering how they were fairing in the competition. He was also worried for Jacob, hoping that he at least found one of their friends to keep him company as the preliminaries continued.

His attention suddenly shifted to another one of his friends. Logan. He was now completely aware that the Scorbunny was competing in the Ion Cup, and knew that it wasn't long before he would go on to qualify for the next stage. It was only a matter of time that he would. That meant that as the Ion Cup went on, and the number of participants grew smaller, they would end up crossing paths more and more until one of them got knocked out of the competition.

Oliver still wasn't sure what was going on with the hotheaded Fire-Type, but he knew that he couldn't worry about that at the moment. Whatever Logan was dealing with was separate from the situation that he was dealing with in trying to get money to Kanet Village. He needed to remember that. He had a goal, and he'd do his best to help Jacob get there.

His train of thought suddenly came to a screeching halt when his ears picked up the sound of movement nearby.

The Oshawott was quick to turn his attention to where he was hearing the movement from, hopping back and swiftly drawing his scalchop from the fur on his belly. Oliver's eyes narrowed as his heart rate began to increase. He had dealt with sudden ambushes once before, he was able to deal with it one more time. He had the stamina for another battle, and maybe he could get another headband.

Suddenly popping up from a nearby bush was a familiar Rockruff, one who's eyes lit up the moment he met the Oshawott's eyes, "Oliver!"

"Miles?"

"Oliver!" Miles jumped from the bush and onto his friend, knocking him over, "Boy am I glad to see you!"

The Water-Type smiled nervously, a little taken off guard by being tackled by the Rockruff, "It's nice to see you too."

"We've been seeing nothing but strangers for weeks!" The Rockruff exclaimed, getting off of Oliver, "I didn't think we'd ever find any more of our friends!"

"Miles, it's only been three days..." The Oshawott chuckled before immediately pausing, "Wait, we?"

Popping up from the same bush Miles had a few moments prior was Pixen, who waved at the confused Water-Type, "Hey, Oliver!"