Adventures Beyond!

Chapter 78: Second Stage I- Alliance

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Ionic Stadium, Sinnoh

Fifty-two remained.

Dawn approached the entrance of the Ionic Stadium with Penni in tow, seeing that most of the participants had already gathered around with who she assumed was the officiant of the second stage. She was quick to slip between some of the larger Pokémon that remained, eventually breaking through to the front so she could see who was catching the attention of all of the participants.

Standing in front of the entrance was a Mr. Mime, one who held a smile on his face as he greeted and congratulated those who remained in the Ion Cup. The Buneary glanced at the Barrier Pokémon before taking a look around at the other participants, who were waiting patiently to hear what would be happening for the next stage.

Though, her reasoning for looking around for once wasn't for the sake of scoping out the competition. She was looking for someone in particular. Participant twenty-three. One of the targets of the Ion Assassins along with herself. If she wanted to get to the next stage, then planting herself with that participant would give her the best possibility of escape.

"Alright!" The Mr. Mime suddenly spoke up, his voice pulling Dawn from her thoughts, "Congrats on making it to the second stage! There are fifty-two of you still in the running to win. But now it's time to shrink those numbers again!"

Dawn rolled her eyes. That was obvious, wasn't it?

"This time around, you won't be competing against all of the participants," The Barrier Pokémon explained, "We're splitting the fifty-two of you into groups of thirteen. So four groups. The officiants of the previous round have been watching you all closely, and we've decided the groups based on that."

"Oh no... That doesn't sound good..." Penni gulped.

"Each group of thirteen has to evade five helpers of the Ion Cup. These helpers will try to capture one participant each and bring them back to the entrance of the stadium. If they succeed in doing this, that contestant is eliminated!" The Mr. Mime continued, "That means, eight Pokémon in each group will make it to the third and final stage. For an automatic pass to be one of those eight, you can tag the safe marker, which will solidify you as one of those eight."

Dawn nodded, "All I have to do is make sure I'm not one of those eliminated five."

"Camila from the preliminary round will teleport you into your given area inside of the Ion Cup. Stay inside of that area, and compete!"

Dawn closed her eyes, taking a deep breath in. She could only hope that she ended up in the same zone as participant twenty-three, or at least not with the Ion Assassins. Either way, it all came down to what the officiants of the previous rounds thought of her.

In an instant, the clamor of Pokémon around her immediately faded away. Along with that, a new array of smells wafted into her nose. She was somewhere different. Presumably the intervention of the Gardevoir from the preliminary round. Confirming this was Camila's voice, which soon played faintly in the depths of her mind.

"You are in group B. Please ensure that you don't cross the blue lines outlining your area."

The Buneary opened her eyes, looking around for a moment. Just like the preliminary round, they seemed to be in a forest area. A few feet behind the small group of Pokémon was the blue line that she assumed Camila had warned them about. She shifted herself away from it before taking a second to see who was with her in group B.

The first Pokémon she noticed was Penni, who was still at her side. The Piplup smiled, apparently thankful that she ended up with someone she knew. Dawn let out an exhale through her nose.