Adventures Beyond!

Chapter 76: First Stage II-Tales on the Rails

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Sapphire Plains, Sinnoh

Anarchy.

Oliver dashed through the plains, Jacob on his left, Sophie on his right. Surrounding them were many battles, the brawls waged creating stray attacks that soared through the air. He elected to stay away from the battles in order to get to the train faster. Jacob and Sophie followed his lead, as they usually weren't steered wrong by Oliver's tactical thinking.

Though, there was one question Jacob had for the Oshawott. "So, what's the plan?"

"Plan?" Oliver glanced at his best friend while they ran. "All we need to do right now is get to the train, right?"

Sophie joined the conversation. "He's talking about when we get on. Just under half of the current number of competitors are going to be eliminated at this stage. But almost all of us are taking the train."

"Oh, right..." The Oshawott let out a sigh.

The Snivy continued, "We might end up battling our way through Metro just for the chance of making it to the next stage."

"We'll think of something..." Oliver told her, reassuring himself in the process.

The three soon ran up one of the many large hills in the plains, getting a good view of everything around them. Just as expected, there were a plethora of battles unfolding around them, many Pokémon having the same thought process as Sophie when it came to the amount of participants that would be boarding the train. Through all of the battling, though, the trio were able to spot the train, which was sitting at a station not too far away from them.

The Water-Type put a paw on his chin as he began to think, "If we avoid any fights, we should make it there in a few minutes... We can't waste any time while we're on a time limit."

"Sounds good to me!" Jacob gave his best friend a wide grin.

Sophie nodded in agreement, "Yeah. Let's do it."

The three rushed off down the hill. As they did though, a particular Pokémon caught the Pikachu's eyes. He stopped in his tracks, his attention turning to the Pokémon. He immediately recognized the Pokémon as Dawn, who seemed to be making a similar dash for the train station. His eyes narrowed ever so slightly, various thoughts filling his mind.

First, Jacob wondered why she had entered the Ion Cup to begin with. The answer was easy to come to, upon remembering the few interactions they had with one another. Strength. It was all about strength. It was always about strength with her. He was pretty sure that she travelled to Forest Grotto behind him and his friends just for the sake of a rematch.

Next, though, he wondered what she would do with the money. What would someone like her even want for? It wasn't as though she had a village to help out, nor any mysterious island she was planning on traveling to. He was pretty sure that was a situation only unique to him and Oliver.

Speaking of the Oshawott, he was the one to snap Jacob out of his mind and bring him back to the situation at hand, shouting, "Jacob! Come on, we have to go!"

"Right! Coming on!" The Pikachu was quick to reply, sprinting in order to close the distance between himself and his friends.

Dawn, meanwhile, was in the midst of making a mad dash toward the train. For once, she didn't see the point in getting into a fight with one of the other participants. She would save that for later. All she needed to do for the time being was make it to the train.

And maybe shake that Piplup while she was at it.

"W-Wait up!" Penni cried as she followed behind the Buneary, panting and sputtering as she tried her best to match her pace, "How can you run so fast...?"