Love in the Time of Teamwork

Chapter 3: A Preliminary

Pokemon Sun and Moon announced. If this is Gen VII, I'm not sure how I feel. On the one hand, yay, new generation! On the other hand, I'll be sad to see the Kalos gang go...unless it connects to X and Y like Gold and Silver did to the first generation. Ah, who cares about my ramblings; time for Chapter 3!

Chapter 3

A Preliminary

"Registration confirmed," the receptionist said, showing a screen to the five trainers (technically six) that had finally finished registering for the tournament. Ash pumped his fist in victory while the others all cheered a little. Shauna, Tierno and Trevor had decided to return to their own room and meet up with their teammates while the new team went to register.

"This is so cool!" Bonnie cheered, jumping up and down. "I can't wait to see you all compete!"

"Excuse me, but there are a few quick points I need to run over before you're fully ready for the tournament," the receptionist called back to them. She didn't seem annoyed, but she did appear rather detached, like she'd witnessed this time and time again within the last twenty-four hours. Ash rubbed the back of his head sheepishly as Pikachu did the same and the two looked back at her. Serena couldn't help her giggles at it.

"Sorry, ma'am," he said with a very nervous chuckle. The receptionist sighed, but smiled at him all the same.

"To confirm, your registered team name is Team Ketchum," she reiterated for them. Serena felt herself blush as Bonnie elbowed her near her hip.

"I wonder who chose that name..." the little girl teased under her breath. None of the others heard her; nor did they see Serena's flushed face (and she was very grateful).

"Your registered participants are Ash Ketchum, Clemont, Serena, Brock and Gary Oak, correct?" Each one of them nodded, though Serena did want to point out that they'd just put their names down less than five minutes ago. "The rules for the tournament are simple. Over the course of the first four days, all five trainers must participate at least twice. This will be further explained when the tournament proper begins. Furthermore, you are allowed to use any Pokémon you own excluding a select few. Here's the list."

The receptionist handed the list off to Clemont, who did look the most apt to actually read it. Brock and Gary leaned over the inventor's shoulder in order to read the contents of the list. Serena, meanwhile, moved a little closer to Ash in order to listen to whatever other rules she was going to dish out. He flashed a very quick grin in her direction, causing her heartbeat to speed up just a little bit.

"One final rule is that tonight, being the eve before the tournament, all participants are required to be in their reserved rooms at midnight."

"Midnight?" Serena voiced aloud, drawing the attention of the rest of the team. "That's pretty specific. Is there a specific reason why?"

"You'll see..." the receptionist answered teasingly with a wink at the end. Serena frowned, disliking such an ambiguous answer until she felt Ash heartily thumping her on the back.

"Don't worry about it, Serena. No matter what it is, we'll figure it out as a team. Right, buddy?" Pikachu looked at Serena and shared the same convictions as his trainer. That made Serena feel quite the bit better about it. "All right! Let's go, guys! We'll be number one!"

"Pi Pikachu!" the electric mouse cheered outward. Suddenly, Ash's stomach rumbled loudly.

"Um...first, maybe we can get some dinner..." Ash chuckled out. Brock shook his head.

"Same old Ash..." he laughed. Serena then watched as the two old friends began to bicker (which was more of a heated discussion) over each other's habits. They were moving at the same time in the direction of the hotel. Bonnie was skipping after them, asking Gary all sorts of questions about the Pokémon he researched. She was even showing off Squishy. This led Serena and Clemont to bring up the rear.