Pokemon Heroes: Sinnoh Saga [Book 1]

Chapter 42: The Hearthome Battle Tournament Begins!

"The Hearthome City Battle Tournament was the talk of the town. It was the biggest thing in the capital. People from all over the Sinnoh Region came to participate or watch it. Thousands more came to be part of the festival. Everyone dressed in traditional robes. There were performers and dancers from the Johto Region, and all the other regions. Kimono girls, Geisha girls, fried squid on a stick, and other deep-fried foods—anyway, that's not quite the point. I competed in the tournament...boy was I in for a surprise. I never thought I'd go down so fast; at least I didn't go down easy. These were the best Trainers in the known world, mainly from Sinnoh. I didn't stand a chance...but I sure learned a lot, and I had a lot of good teachers helping me learn even more."

"I must admit, you look pretty good in a yukata," laughed Niya as she looked over Jeremy.

He and Pikachu were both dressed in yukata, just like everyone else going to the festival. The girls were dolled up in fancy red kimono with their hair all done up with pins, combs, and flowers in it.

Their faces were even painted white, their cheeks blushed, their lips dolled up and fans tucked into their obi.

"I like how Sam completes the look with his haori," said Alyssandra as she looked over her friend, "He looks almost like a samurai."

"Samurai wore hakama as well, plus I lack the wakizashi and the katana," smirked Sam.

Niya rolled her eyes as the group walked out of their room and down the hallway to the elevator. "Oh, I forgot, you like history," she groaned, "I remember when you used to go off to the library as a kid and spend hours reading history books. You'd come home thinking you were a samurai."

Alyssandra giggled, and even Pikachu let out a laugh.

Sam looked away, blushing a bit as he remembered that and other embarrassing things he did as a child.

"Well, he used to protect us with that wooden sword of us," added Alyssandra, trying to support Sam.

"Yeah, with that bokken at his side all the time, no one ever wanted to come near us and 'the weird kid with a stick'," retorted Niya, holding back laughter as she remembered.

Sam rolled his eyes and the group headed down the elevator and into the lobby.

Valentina wasn't going to be able to meet them until much later today. As League Champion she needed to host the tournament, as well keep an eye on the festival as a whole. Even with Cynthia's help, it was a big job.

Fantina too was preoccupied with ensuring everything went smoothly. She was the Gym Leader of Hearthome City, and it was her job to take care of the entire city, if anything went wrong it would be partly her fault.

Drasna had also left, preparing to return to the Johto Region to continue her mentorship under Claire. Which left the group alone, once more, just the five of them. Sam, Jeremy, Niya, Alyssandra and Pikachu.

"We can't even call home," sighed Jeremy, "I mean, I could call my family. But Palmer, Professor Rowan and Sam's grandmother are still away on their trip to the Hoenn Region."

"We've gone without calling them before. Remember the trip from Floaroma to Eterna?" said Niya.

It was one of the longest trips they'd ever made. Then again, with all the delays, it was no surprise. Sam was unconscious half the time, Alyssandra was dragged off to Eterna Forest and left alone for quite a while, and Niya and Jeremy weren't able to move on or look for her without Sam at least mostly recovered.

"Do you want to call your mom?" asked Sam, more than willing to let Jeremy have the time to do so, but Jeremy shrugged.

"I spoke to her last night. It's fine," he said simply.