Gotta Catch That One

Chapter 59: Greatest Weakness and Greatest Strength

As the announcer started to wrap up his speech, Ash said a quick goodbye to Diantha and started to head down the steps to join the other trainers. On his way down, he remembered his promise to Bonnie and looked up at where is friends were and gave them a wave. He thought he could see the little girl jumping excitedly.

"Hello Ash, good to see you again," a voice said, very close to him, almost causing him to fall as he jumped in alarm. He glanced down and saw a familiar elderly face with a long white beard, heading up the stairs.

"President Goodshow!" Ash exclaimed happily. "I didn't expect to see you here."

"Well missing one league doesn't mean I'm retired," Goodshow explained with a soft chuckle, referencing his absence at the Vertress Conference. "Now, I definitely expected to see you here." He leaned in and held up his hand like he was telling a secret. "Word is, you're the early favourite to win. You've come a long way since we first met."

Ash laughed, feeling a bit embarrassed. "I'd like to think so," he told the Pokemon League president.

The announcer had just stopped speaking and Goodshow looked up with wide eyes. "Oh goodness! Sorry Ash, I have to get up there." He sighed, looking at all the steps he still had to take.

Ash quickly pulled out a pokeball and clicked it open. The light then flashed, revealing Noivern. "Noivern, can you fly President Goodshow to the top?"

Noivern nodded and positioned himself for Goodshow to get on. The League president looked gratefully at Ash as he got on. "Thank you very much, Ash. Hopefully I'll see you around during the tournament."

"Sounds good," Ash agreed, giving a thumbs up.

Ash reached the bottom at about the same time Goodshow was about to start speaking. He decided to just stay where he was, rather than search for his friends. Noivern landed next to him as the speech began.

"Greetings Pokemon trainers and the friends and families of those competing," Goodshow began. "I am pleased to once again, be in front of some of the finest aspiring trainers." He then looked down to where Ash was. "And a thank you to one of them for giving me a hand in getting up here. You have a fine Noivern, there, Ash."

Noivern looked pretty pleased at that and stood taller as people started clapping. "You're being like Hawlucha," Ash told his dragon type, laughing. Although, that was just more praise for Noivern, as Hawlucha was probably his best friend.

"Now," Goodshow began, "I'm not going to delay things much longer. I'm sure you're all anxious to know how this tournament is going to work." There was a loud cheer of agreement. "That's good, because I'm just as anxious to tell you. If you would please look at one of the screens."

Ash looked up at the screens and noticed that pictures of all the trainers were showing up. He noticed his picture was near Calem's, who Ash hadn't even seen yet. He noticed there were eight rows of eight pictures. Only sixty four competitors. With almost all of them glaring at Ash, it had seemed like more.

Once the murmuring of the crowd died down, Goodshow continued. "Fortunately, we have a nice even amount of trainers, so the format of the tournament is quite simple. It's almost like some outside force has designed this just to make it easy to explain and execute. Well, maybe they were a bit lazy...it seems quite easy and convenient." He paused as the crowd laughed at that. "Anyways...the format of the league will be simple, but very exciting. With sixty four trainers, we will be having six rounds. The first two rounds will be fought in the smaller arenas that lie beneath this stadium. There are four of them, allowing for eight battles in each for the first round and four in the second. The final sixteen is when things get interesting."