Pokemon - From the Brink

Prologue - In Your Hands

Talks regarding the next iteration of the World Tournament had been ongoing ever since the first one had ended. It had been a spectacle that the whole world could participate in and enjoy, and it was met with almost universal acclaim. The representatives of each participating country often met all at once to discuss how the competition would be held in the future. Even now, coming into the New Year, the one-hundred-and-fifty or so chosen reps were sat in their large meeting hall, putting the final touches on the plans for the second annual World Tournament. The meeting, held in a spacious office within the headquarters of the United Nations, was the first to be called since Christmas, with many of the attendees ready to come to a decision. Not all of them were politicians. Some were royalty, and some were simply philanthropic benefactors. What they all had in common, though, was that they alone represented their country at this meeting, just as it had been when the World Tournament had first been conceived.

After a few hours of ironing out the details, the criteria for the second tournament had been finalised. This year, the World Tournament would not be held in the same format as the last. There would be no point-gathering amongst countries, and instead, teams would be made up from continents. Six teams of twelve, each built from Trainers across each continent. This meant that, for example, participants from Italy, France and Germany could all be part of the European team, whilst Argentinian and Brazilian Trainers would both fight for South America. All continents, with the exception of Antarctica, would create their strongest team of twelve from the pool of Trainers within every country of said continent.

This decision was made so that individual countries had enough time to train and prepare for next year, when the original format would return once again, all whilst still giving the stronger Trainers the opportunity to fight in the meantime. As such, this would be the way the World Tournament would work moving forward, alternating between the two formats each year. One year would be the original World Tournament, and the next would be the new format, dubbed the 'Continental World Tournament' or 'Continental Cup', and the next would be the original, etc.

As for the leadership of the six teams, the managers of the teams who made it furthest in the previous tournament had priority over the managers of any other country. For example, since Italy won the first tournament, the Italian manager would be put in charge of this year's team from Europe, unless of course he were to decline the offer. The same would be true for Mexico – as North America's highest-placing team previously, the Mexican manager would automatically be offered the position of North America's manager.

So it was settled. Europe, Asia, Australia/Oceania, Africa, North America and South America would each form a team, and the tournament would begin anew. Although admittedly a shorter tournament overall, the Continental Cup would theoretically pit the strongest of the strong against each other, potentially making for an even more exciting spectacle. Each manager would have to scout through their available countries to find the best Trainers within – and narrowing it down to just twelve from such a large pool would be no small feat by any means.

*

Pleased with the day's productivity and eager to announce the Continental World Tournament to the globe, the men and women gathered in the meeting room began to rise from their seats, and a buzz of conversation filled the air as chairs were pushed back and bags were picked up. They had done it again. Another new competition to fill the world with spectacle and excitement.

On any other day, that would be the meeting over with. But on this day, things were out of the ordinary...

All of a sudden, for no reason whatsoever, the sky outside went completely pitch black. No natural light outside at all. The board members all froze. It was the middle of the day, with not a cloud in the sky, and no eclipse predicted. But now they could only see by the lights hanging above their heads. Gazing out through the windows, it was as if the entirety of the city had been plunged into black. Only the lights of the buildings for miles around gave off any vague shine. There were no stars in the sky – only a pitch black void, as if the Sun had completely disappeared.