Introduction, Part 1: A Flat Tire, the Beach, and the Woman with Strange Eyes
Terra Reynolds looked out the window and sighed. She was slumped in a very unladylike manner against the door frame, but there was no one to see her and chide her for her behavior. Both bodyguards that she had been unceremoniously dumped with were both outside the limousine, cursing under their breath as they worked to change the back flat tire. They probably thought she couldn’t hear them, but she’d cracked a window for some fresh air and almost immediately got a blast of profanity so unscrupulous it would make a sailor blush.
Father doesn’t exactly hire the smartest people, does he, she thought to herself. She’d tried to talk them into letting her go on her own, or at least traveling by foot, but neither of them would even consider it. That was how they found themselves stuck with a flat tire in the middle of Connecting Cave, a place no limousine really had any place to be driving in the first place.
She sighed again as she looked at her watch, a once-dainty piece of silver and crystals that was now scratched and dented from heavy use. It was almost noon; surely she would be late for the tournament. She considered calling out to the bodyguards to hurry up, but figured it would be of no use.
Finally, the back end of the limousine fell back level as the new tire was fitted into place. One guard resumed his seat behind the driver’s wheel, while the other joined her in back. “Sorry about that, m’lady,” he apologized, “but we’ll be back on the road in no time at all.”
Terra looked coolly at the man and then resumed watching out the window, finding more enjoyment in the fluttering of the Zubats than in conversation with either of her father’s men. They’d earned such apathy when they refused to let her help with the tire, and now she was probably going to be late on their watch as well.
The driver got the car in gear and continued pulling through the cave, driving more slowly and carefully than he had been before the tire popped. Soon, they were on the roads of Cyllage, and Terra was able to amuse herself idly by watching the buildings and people of the coastal city. She had never traveled to this side of Kalos before, so she enjoyed the sights as the limo navigated the winding streets before heading south down the coast.
She plucked nervously at the red scarf around her neck as she saw a large crowd of people and an even larger ship coming into view. If the boat was still here, that meant she wasn’t too late, but that also meant facing all those people like she was now. She gulped down her anxiety and smoothed nonexistent wrinkles out of her dress, hoping in vain that she would at least get a private room at the tournament location to escape and be herself.
The limousine pulled right up to the crowd and then through it, the driver barely waiting for people to step aside before driving up further. From her position in the back seat, Terra could clearly tell that the crowd was split into two groups: a cluster of contestants in the middle and a ring of observers all around, with space between. As the limo pulled up closer, she saw a young trainer with an orange and black cap walk up behind one of the waiting contestants and pluck something out of his back pocket before slipping in among the rest of the contestants.
She was about to mention the incident to the bodyguard in the backseat with her, but the limo suddenly came to a halt and both guards left the vehicle, the driver coming back to open the door for her to exit. Self-consciously, she smoothed her dress again before stepping out of the vehicle, her eyes traveling over the other contestants. The group was about evenly split between boys and girls, and most seemed to be around her age. There were a few who might be younger, and a few that were definitely including a rather disheveled man and three women with very bright hair.
All of the contestants turned to stare right back at her, and she knew in that moment that, not only had she been late, but she had been keeping the others waiting for her. They had probably already written her off as an arrogant, wealthy trainer with no common sense, and she had to bite her tongue to stop from saying anything, conscious of the two bodyguards standing on either side of her.
Everyone’s attention was soon taken up, however, by activity from the boat, which until then had just been waiting peacefully by the dock. A ramp extended and a woman disembarked, walking quickly and purposefully towards the gathering. Dressed in a royal blue women’s business suit and heels, she had thick, shiny brown hair pulled back in a large bun; flawless skin; and a wide, cold smile. There seemed to be something weird about her eyes, and as she neared the crowd, Terra was able to tell what it was. Instead of having a coloured iris and a black pupil, the woman’s irises were pure black with white dots for pupil. It was probably just contacts, or some kind of disease or defect, but the woman’s eyes still made Terra shudder.
“Welcome, everyone!” the woman called out with a loud voice the moment she reached the head of the crowd. Everyone else had involuntarily stepped back, making plenty of room for her. “Thank you all for choosing to show up for this tournament. You have no idea how much this means, to me, and to our mutual benefactor, the wonderful Mr. Diamant.” As she mentioned his name, she raised her hands and began to applaud, with the rest of the gathering reluctantly joining in. Terra gave a few halfhearted claps, but then fell silent.
The woman then gestured behind herself to the ship. “This is the transport Mr. Diamant has provided for you. If the contestants would please grab their bags and follow me; your invitation will need to be shown in order to board.”
Without another word, the woman spun on her heels and turned back towards the ship, one hand raised like a tour guide. Terra looked over at her guards and was pleased to see that they already had grabbed her luggage from the trunk of the limo. Ordinarily, she might have objected to taking three full suitcases as wasteful, but she had taken the opportunity to hide some of her own preferred clothing and tools in between the various dresses, scarves, and hair decorations. For once, her parents’ opulence had worked in her favour.
She walked carefully through the sand to the dock, careful not to trip and fall. She had been trained in how to walk in high heels from an early age, but they still weren’t meant to be used on a walk through a beach, and she placed each foot carefully before picking up the other and taking another step. Meanwhile, her guards were rushing ahead, practically knocking down the other contestants in their desire to see her to the dock. She blushed and would have smacked herself in the face at their stupidity if she didn’t have to use both hands to hold her dress above the sand.
Finally, she reached the dock and was ushered up the ramp by one of the guards. The other was busy holding back the other contestants so she could enter first. Terra blushed again but kept her sigh on the inside, walking gracefully up the gangplank to the ship. The woman with the strange eyes was waiting at the top, standing at the edge of the boat. “May I have your invitation please?” she asked, once again smiling broadly.
Terra pulled out her invitation out of her handbag and handed it to the woman. “Here you go, ma’am,” she said with a curtsy.
The woman looked at the invitation blankly, turning it around in the light. When she held it in the sunlight at just the right angle, a small hologram popped out of the invitation, a diamond-shape with a large X over it and some writing that Terra couldn’t quite identify. The sight of the hologram put the woman at ease, and she carefully placed the invitation in a pocket of her jacket. “I will also need to take your Holo Caster, Xtransceiver, PokéEtch, PokéNav, PokéGear, tablet, laptop, or any other communication device you have on you.”
“M-My Holo Caster?” Terra eyes went wide. “But why would you want that?”
“Unfortunately, my master’s machines disrupt the signals these devices need to operate, so they will not function properly on the island. In fact, they may even malfunction and cause harm to you, so I will keep them in a safe place for you until you are ready to head back to the mainland.”
“But the disruption of cellular signals shouldn’t cause any kind of malfunction like that,” Terra protested. “It doesn’t make any sense that –”
“While you are on the island, we have provisions for alternate communication for you,” the woman continued, completely ignoring and cutting off Terra’s protests. “It runs on radio waves, so it will be unaffected by the difficulties. If you wish to compete in the tournament, you must comply.”
Terra pursed her lips, but dutifully pulled the Holo Caster out of her handbag and handed it over to the woman. With a smile, the woman stepped back, allowing Terra to enter the ship, her guards trailing behind.
Or maybe not the guards, after all. As soon as Terra’s feet hit the deck of the ship, the woman slipped back into place in front of the ramp, blocking the entrance of the two bodyguards. “May I have your invitations, please?”
The guards scoffed. “We don’t have any,” the one who had been her driver replied. “We’re here with Miss Reynolds, the young woman you just allowed on board.”
“I’m sorry, but spectators are not invited. You may only board the ship if you are participating in the tournament.”
Terra stopped and held her breath. Was it true? Would the bodyguards really not be allowed to accompany her on the trip? She dared not turn around to look, afraid the excitement on her face would give away her feelings to the men.
“We’re not bloody spectators!” The other guard protested. “We’re here to protect her and take care of her!”
“I assure you, your protection is unnecessary.” Despite the anger in the guard’s voice, the woman’s remained cool and even. “My master will make sure that none of the participants come to any harm or discomfort while they are in his care. Now, please, get out of the way so the rest of the contestants can enter.”
Terra heard a large splash, and then a few thumps on the deck of the boat. She finally turned around and saw the woman setting her luggage down on the deck, showing no strain despite the weight of the bags. “Here is your luggage, Miss Reynolds. Please wait in the common area of the ship while the rest of the contestants board,” the woman said, the same cold smile on her lips.
***
Justin stood at the foot of the ramp, watching as the little rich girl’s bodyguards argued with the woman on the boat. It was kind of funny, watching them get chewed out after their limo had kicked sand up in everyone’s faces driving through the sand like that. He hoped the girl would freak out when she found out her little butlers wouldn’t be allowed on the trip. It would serve her right.
He patted his back pocket with a contented sigh, just waiting for the riches this invitation would bring. He hadn’t been far away from Route 8 when he’d received it the other day, so he decided to camp out nearby and show up at the beach site nice and early. While his Braixen ran around enjoying the sand and sun, he perched on a rock and watched as the other contestants arrived.
The first one to arrive aside from him was a rather disheveled-looking older guy dressed in army cast-offs and trailed by a Simisage. Rather than arriving from the north like Justin would have expected, he had come from the direction of Ambrette Town in the south, just wandering aimlessly across the beach. When he saw where Justin had perched, he just nodded and dropped to the ground, his Simisage curling up behind him. Justin was afraid the guy might have died or something, but soon his chest was rising and falling regularly and he realized the guy had fallen asleep.
The next to arrive was a rather serious, if plain, teenager. He was almost at the beach when a grey-haired girl ran up behind him and jumped on his back. The two chatted together in what looked like surprised happiness before settling down on the sand, watching the waves while holding hands. Justin wasn’t sure if they were actually here for the tournament of if they were just a couple relaxing on the beach.
More and more people starting coming after that. A severe-looking woman with shockingly bright red hair stood aloofly to the side after her arrival by bike, but her face brightened when she saw a tall woman with purple hair arrive. The two quickly jogged towards each other and were soon chatting and laughing like old friends.
Most of the others seemed more solitary, though. An older woman with a dark green braid stayed far away on the sidelines, kneeling down and talking quietly with her Bellsprout. A pretty blonde girl in elegant clothes removed her shoes before walking across the sand and releasing her Pokémon into the water, a graceful Milotic. Nearby, a boat made anchor on a dock, releasing a younger girl onto the beach, an Empoleon that followed behind her, and a short, skinny teenage boy with his hands in his pockets. A young scientist flew down onto the beach gracefully on the back of an Altaria.
As more and more contestants arrived, other trainers started coming over as well, wondering what the general excitement was about. Justin was happy to share, telling them about the tournament with the staggering large amount of prize money. Some of the trainers thought it was a hoax, but then another contestant arrived from the direction of Ambrette Town and joined the conversation. He was wearing a bright red leather jacket, an amused smirk, and a Kecleon on his shoulder, and he showed the kids his invitation as well.
“And if you hold it in the sun just right,” the man tilted the card and a hologram popped into existence, hovering over the surface of the invitation, “you get that. Pretty fancy hologram, too fancy for a hoax if you ask me.”
Justin’s eyes bugged out. “How’d you find that?”
The man chuckled. “Coincidence, actually. I was reading the card in the sunlight and it just popped out. Seems to be a logo for ‘Diamant Industries’, but if that’s a real company, it’s not one I’ve ever heard of.”
A real crowd was starting to gather now, and Justin and the man walked closer to the shore, nearer to the other contestants. A smiling young man with a Charizard was chatting with a bunch of girls that had come up to watch. Another boat had pulled up and was in the process of disgorging a rather grim young man with short brown hair and a dark expression followed by a playful Breloom.
Justin glanced at his Holo Caster. It was getting late into the morning, their transportation should be here soon. Some of the other contestants were beginning to chat with each other, the man with the red jacket showing the others the hologram he had found. It wasn’t long before another arrival pulled into the crowd, a pair of twins on bicycles looking nervous but excited. They were the ones that had spotted the large ship approaching the coast as they pulled up, and pointed it out to those waiting.
The ship had sat at anchor until the prissy late girl showed up, but it didn’t matter anymore, since the ramp was down and they would be leaving soon. Justin smiled, watching the twins as they had a discussion with the boat woman. It seemed like they only had one invitation but hoped to compete together as a single unit. The woman seemed skeptical but allowed them both on regardless.
As soon as they were on board, Justin stepped up proudly. He was almost the last to board; only the napping man was behind him in line and he was anxious to get going.
“May I have your invitation, please?” the woman asked him, smiling widely. She was very beautiful in a flawless sort of way, like a super model in a magazine and Justin had to break himself away to stop from staring at her as he reached into his back pocket to grab the invitation.
It was gone, his back pocket was empty.
“I don’t believe this,” he muttered to himself, feeling around his other jean pockets, and also the pockets in his jacket.
“Is there a problem?” The woman’s smiles drooped and she cocked her head, looking at him curiously.
“Just hold on a moment.” Justin pulled his backpack off his back and started rummaging through it, pulling out spare socks and Pokéballs as he felt around for the invitation.
“Hey, what’s the hold up?” the man behind him called up.
Justin had no words to respond. Every pouch in his bag turned up empty, no invitation to be found anywhere. “I can’t find it,” he finally admitted to the woman. “I lost my invitation.”
“I’m very sorry to hear that,” she responded, somehow sounding consoling without actually being apologetic, “but without an invitation, you cannot enter.”
Justin looked back up at her. “But it’s not my fault! I did get one, honest! This little Fletchling flew up to me and… ”
His voice trailed off as his gaze wandered over the ship. He saw a group of contestants smiling and talking to each other on the boat, and one of them looked oddly familiar. Is that… is that the trainer I beat yesterday, the one with the Chesnaught? How did he…
“He took it!” Justin shouted, pointing at the youngster on board the ship. “He took my invitation, I know it! He doesn’t deserve to be here, he’s just some punk kid and he stole my invitation from me!”
The group of contestants on board the ship looked over at Justin and the woman. They were too far away to have heard what he said, but they could tell there was a commotion of some sort.
“I’m very sorry to hear that, but without an invitation you cannot enter.” The woman grabbed onto Justin’s arm with fingers that felt as cold as steel and steered him towards the bottom of the ramp. “Please leave, or I will be forced to remove you.”
Remembering the sight of the rich girl’s bodyguards getting dumped off the ramp into the sea, Justin pulled out of her grasp. “Fine, I’ll go. Not like the kid is going to win the tournament anyway.” At the bottom of the ramp, he turned around and shouted back up towards the boat. “You hear that, you little punk! I hope you fail so badly, you’re laughed off the island!”
With a dejected sigh, Justin shouldered his backpack and headed back down Route Eight towards Cyllage City and the next gym.
It'll be exciting to see how this turns out.
