Pokémon Swirl & Spiral

Chapter 9: Garden

The Senator Trials were all scheduled to be held in Luxen Stadium. As soon as tickets went on sale, they were sold out in under an hour. The first trial would begin late in the afternoon, with five rounds of 20 challengers all battling against a single Senator for the entire event. The sky began to grow dark as the challengers boarded on buses that would drive them to the Stadium. As Kairi took her seat next to Hazel, she could feel her heart pounding. She squeezed the League Ball that held Zorua. Every challenger knew the possibility of elimination. They had all trained hard, and dreaded being disqualified so quickly. It lingered throughout everyone, and the ride to the stadium was mostly silent.

Upon their arrival, Kairi could see the massive line that formed outside of the stadium. She saw thousands of people of all ages, waiting with their Pokémon. Some had set up tents and even portable stoves. They must've stayed there for days.

The trail of buses all parked in an underground garage built into the stadium, with sHARP filled hover cars surrounding them. Getting out, the challengers were immediately squeezed into two different locker rooms that separated the boys and the girls.

Kairi stayed close to Hazel, who stood on the complete opposite side of the room from Miko. They had all dressed into their uniforms prior to leaving Luxen Grand Suites. In no time, the announcer, Cassidy, entered the room assisted by two Mark-Three sHARPs.

"Oh my!" She cried out, beaming at them. "You all look so cute in your uniforms! Are you all excited?!"

The girls all gave a slightly stressed out answer.

"Now always remember to do your best out there!" Cassidy reminded. "Whether you and your Pokémon move on or not, it's totally more about having the best time out there!" She twirled around theatrically. "Anyway, I'm here to notify you all about your groups. As you know, only 20 of you are allowed for each round, and unfortunately that means you might not be battling with your friends. No sweat though, you'll always have another chance as long as you guys pass your trials."

She began to pass out small Poké Balls to everyone in the room.

The iconic item for a Pokémon Trainer. Wonder why our Pokémon didn't come in these.

"Does everyone have one? Good." Cassidy stated. "Inside these Poké Balls are numbers that indicate what group you are in. They range from one to five, and whatever number you get is your slot for today. Simple, right? Director Garrison is currently doing the same thing with the boys, so not everyone in your group will be here. Got it?"

They all nodded.

"You may press the release trigger."

Pressing it, Kairi watched as the Poké Ball snapped open, revealing the number "1" engraved into its center. For a moment her heart stopped.

"Hey!" Hazel instantly called to her. "Looks like we're in the same group." She also held a Poké Ball with the same number.

"Oh, thank Arceus." Kairi responded, a wave of relief flooding her. At least she wasn't alone. "I got so scared all of a sudden."

Hazel nudged her. "I know I saw. I'm also glad we're together, but you know it's not always going to be like this, right?"

"Yeah..." Kairi was still relieved. She was sure that everyone at DYSK would be thrilled to see them both together.

"Alright everyone, please separate into your groups." Cassidy called to them.

Kairi and Hazel both moved with the other girls who had also drawn their slot. There were a total of 10 of them, meaning they would be joined by 10 boys. Kairi glanced around to see what group Miko was in. It appeared that she was competing in round four.