Ash's Story (Part 6: Unova)

Chapter 81: Opening League Match

The stadium lights stayed awake long after most of Vertress City had gone quiet.

I stood by the hotel window with Pikachu resting on the sill beside me, his ears tilted toward the distant roar of practice announcements and late-night workers preparing the League grounds. The stadium glowed like a promise beyond the glass.

Golly, Alice, and Reisa were asleep in the same room, or at least they were trying to be. Golly had fallen asleep after checking the registration documents twice. Reisa slept with one arm over her eyes. Alice was curled beneath the blanket, still close enough that I could hear her breathing.

"Starting tomorrow, that is where we will be," I said quietly.

Pikachu looked out at the stadium with me, his reflection bright in the window.

"We traveled through the whole Unova Region for this," I continued. "We battled so many Gym Leaders, met so many rivals, and survived things I never imagined when we first stepped off the road from Nuvema."

The badges were in my case on the desk, but I could almost feel them anyway. Basic, Toxic, Insect, Bolt, Quake, Jet, Legend, and Wave had all led me here, not as decorations, but as pieces of Unova that had tested us.

"All those Gym Leaders helped us get here," I said. "We will show them what we are made of. We will win for the people who believed in us, and for the Pokémon who kept walking with us."

I remembered Cilan's Striaton lessons, Roxie's music, Burgh's art, Elesa's stage, Clay's heavy strength, Skyla's wind, Drayden's legend, and Marlon's tide. Some of those battles had been joyful. Some had happened while darker things pressed from every side. Still, each badge had asked the same question in a different voice: what kind of Trainer was I becoming in Unova?

The answer had changed every time I met someone new. Alice had walked beside me through fear and trust. Golly had turned danger into procedure before panic could win. Eve had learned to protect without trapping the person she loved. Iris and Cilan had carried Unova's heart with us even when the road grew strange. Reisa had reminded us that strength could still have grace after disaster.

Tomorrow, all of those roads would stand inside one stadium. That thought made sleep feel impossible, even though I knew exhaustion could ruin a battle faster than any opponent.

Pikachu's meaning came soft and warm. "We fight for tomorrow, but we need sleep for morning."

I smiled at him because he sounded too much like Alice.

The bed shifted behind me, and Alice's sleepy voice reached the window. "Ash... you should go to sleep now. You need rest if you want to do well tomorrow."

I turned from the glass and saw her watching me through half-open eyes. She looked tired, but her concern was clear enough to cut through the stadium glow.

"You are right," I said.

Alice's expression softened. "I usually am when you are trying to win tomorrow before sleeping tonight."

Reisa muttered from her bed without opening her eyes. "Listen to your girlfriend before the League disqualifies you for dramatic exhaustion."

Golly spoke from beneath her blanket with impossible calm. "Sleep deprivation reduces reaction time and strategic flexibility."

I stared at all three of them. "Were any of you actually asleep?"

"No," Alice answered with drowsy honesty.

Pikachu laughed against the window, and his little body shook with tired sparks.

I finally left the window and climbed into bed. The stadium lights still glowed behind my eyelids, but Alice's breathing, Pikachu's warmth, and the quiet room slowly pulled the battle ahead into tomorrow where it belonged.