“You really should take a break,” the woman said.

  “I’m almost done here,” the man sighed. “There’s no point in stopping now.”

  He and the rest of his colleagues had been working non-stop over the past couple of months. With all the political developments happening all around Shinwa recently, they had no choice. In particular, Sinnoh’s falling out with Unova and especially Galar was too good an opportunity to not take advantage of.

  So, right now, the man and his colleague were signing off on the last of a gigantic pile of documents concerning the increased imports of steel and related products from Sinnoh. Compared to ten years prior, Hoenn now had a better-positioned domestic industry surrounding steel products such that they could afford to relax import restrictions a bit. In return, Sinnoh would import more agricultural products and critical minerals from Hoenn.

  Suddenly, the woman’s palm fell on the table, a decent amount harder than it needed to. That got the man’s attention, and he glanced up at her. “Don’t get it wrong,” she said, frowning. “We don’t need you messing up now of all times, just because you refused to take a break for no good reason.”

  At that moment, there was a soft cooing noise from behind him, and then Milly, his Milotic, rested her head on his shoulder. The serpentine Pokemon was curled up behind him, with her voice and expression signaling worry. The man sighed and leaned into his trusted partner, which always soothed his anxiety a bit. He was glad that the room they were in was specifically made to be able to accommodate her.

  “Fine,” he said, dropping his pen. “I’ll finish this later.”

  The woman breathed a sigh of relief, to which the man chuckled a bit. “I may need a break, but is this not even a tiny bit about the fact that we’re dealing with Sinnoh specifically?”

  “Well, of course it’s a tiny bit about that. I wasn’t exactly thrilled about moving so far apart from my homeland all those years ago, even if I understood why we did it,” she said. Her Walrein gave a bark at that. “Sorry Rein,” she smiled, scratching her partner under her chin. “we weren’t happy about it.”

  The walrus-like Pokemon was almost as big as Milly. She was resting behind her Trainer, now thumping her tail on the floor repeatedly, showing her enjoyment at getting attention from her Trainer. But the man knew, despite her cuteness, Rein was an incredibly powerful. He hadn’t had time to battle Rein and the rest of his colleague’s team very often recently because of all the work. That was definitely something he was definitely looking forward to getting back to, and he knew his Pokemon felt the same way.

  Even if he knew he needed a break, the man knew it would take more than the free time he currently had to truly relax. He flopped back in his chair and dramatically groaned.

  “If you’re truly so out of it, I could bring Sidney in here to tell some jokes,” the woman smirked.

  “You damn well know that would make my headache worse,” the man chided, only half-joking. It was amazing how even after facing life-or-death situations with Sidney on numerous occasions, the man still had times where he wished the Elite Four member in question would only talk for work purposes.

  “And I could bring in Flannery and the twins too, wouldn’t you like that?” the woman laughed.

  The man groaned, which then turned into laughter, and then more laughter. The running joke about the scenario she described wasn’t supposed to be that funny, but both of them felt the need to let loose in some way after the tension of the last few months.

  “I haven’t seen that face in a long time,” the woman noticed.

  “It has been a busy few months, you know.”

  “No, I mean longer than that,” she corrected. “We’re all busy, you know. But ever since your split with Winona, you’ve been worse, we both know it.”

  “Well, aren’t you blunt,” the man chuckled, slightly darkly. She was completely right. He had dove into his duties, and because he had been so busy, and because he had torpedoed quite a few environmental regulations to bring up Hoenn’s domestic industry, his now ex-girlfriend left him.

  He took a deep, shaky breath, while tilting his head to look at the ceiling. “I have some intrusive thoughts, you know,” he said. “Take my anger out on people making things so damn difficult all the time.”

  “Do yourself a favour, and don’t tell anyone else but me, Sidney, and Phoebe something like that,” she warned.

  “Obviously,” he snorted. Oh, what kind of riots would there be if the general populace could know the man’s true self. The self that often got petty, angry, exhausted, other states of mind that didn’t fit the image of the cheerful, empathetic man, the one who constantly looks for the beauty in everything he sees.

  “I’m like that, remember? After everything, it’d be weird if we weren’t at some point, deep down,” the woman said. “So many unnecessary protesters, so many corrupt politicians constantly working against the country… at this point, your poll numbers might go up if you used Milly to throw some them around at some point, as revenge.”

  Milly nodded sagely at that. “Don’t hurt them too bad, alright?” the man laughed, rubbing the top of Milly’s head, to her great appreciation.

  He got out of his seat and walked over to the window behind him, hands laced together behind his back. It covered the entire length of the room, and the man could see a stadium below them. It was mostly empty right now, but there were some people starting to file in for the first match of the Lilycove Elite tournament.

  You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

  “Who is fighting first, again?” he asked.

  “Juan,” the woman said, as the man perked up at that. “Yes, I thought that might cheer you up.”

  Juan, the Sootopolis Gym Leader, was the man’s mentor. Nowadays, the man was obviously far surpassed him, but he could never stop feeling at least some sort of attachment to the man who taught him to battle, as well as appreciate the beauty in the world.

  “Who is he up against?”

  The woman frowned, trying to remember. “I don’t recall his name, but I’m pretty sure he’s an Orrean Trainer.”

  “Orre, hmm?” the man muttered quietly. The Hoenn League had opened their doors to Orre for this tournament, but he really didn’t expect there to be anyone from there that could make it, given the state of disarray the region seemed to always be in.

  “From what I’ve seen, he’s strong. I don’t know if that means too strong for Juan, but he’s definitely good enough to be here,” the woman said.

  Ah, yes. The woman was heavily involved in foreign relations, typically even more so than the man, so of course she would know about that.

  After just a few more minutes, the amount of people that had taken their seats in the arena had increased drastically. It was time to go, then.

  It was like a light switch had been turned on. The man’s face transformed as if a spell had been cast on it, now having a smile that had brightened the lives of Hoennians for decades now. His posture had been fixed as well. He was now who the people of this region looked to when they still wanted to see beauty in the world, even in the darkest of times.

  If only Wallace’s demeanor could rid himself of his worries as well. The Hoenn Champion turned to Glacia, an Elite Four member, and his right-hand. A woman who had been with him through thick and thin.

  “Let’s go. Everyone’s expecting us.”

  -----------

  Kiran was ready. Well, probably.

  He had spent the last week looking at Juan’s previous matches, what strategies he liked to use, any Pokemon he had that stood out for whatever reason, even the frequent interviews he liked to give to see if he could learn anything. Kiran was as ready as he could be.

  Right now, he was in a waiting room near the arena he would be battling in. Each arena had a small one available, which made sense considering how only two competitors would ever be using it at a time. He was sitting on a couch, and there was a table next to where he was with some snacks and drinks on it. Joan was the only Pokemon of Kiran’s that was out of their Pokeball at the moment, and she was sitting right next to him.

  “Ru,” Joan grunted, tapping Kiran’s leg with her arm. For some reason, his leg was bouncing up and down, and he hadn’t even noticed.

  “Thanks,” he said, then paused the bouncing. Then continued to bounce. Joan stared at him, and Kiran got the feeling she would be raising an eyebrow, if she had any eyebrows.

  Why was he nervous. Hell if he knew. This was a match for sport. The stakes were way lower than so many battles he had been a part of in Orre. And it’s not like he and Nysa were being shipped back there if he lost. Win or lose, there were no real consequences for him.

  Joan leaned against him just then, with her shoulder against Kiran’s and hummed while closing her eyes. That got Kiran’s leg to stop bouncing. It brought him back to all those nights in Orre… sleeping on the floor, or a bed that was uncomfortable as hell, listening to the sounds of chaos outside… shootings, Pokemon death matches taking place just outside. That would sound like a horrible time out of context. But through it all, Kiran and Joan laid next to each other like this, feeling comfort in their conviction that they would be fine one day.

  Kiran leaned back against Joan, closed his eyes, and sighed. They were together. He would be fine.

  Just then, the door to the waiting room opened, and the man who walked through was… uh, well, Kiran would choose to be kind today and describe him as interesting-looking. He had a haircut that looked like a regular short trim except for tufts of dyed hair sticking straight up on the front of his head. He was also wearing a blue mantle that looked like what one would wear over a suit, except he had a bodysuit and cargo pants underneath, and then topped it all off with frills around his neck, and dress shoes.

  Kiran knew almost nothing about fashion, but Nessa had mentioned to him that she was a model, and he felt like she would get feel horrified just looking at this.

  “There’s no need to stare that hard, young man,” the man smirked, causing Kiran to look away. The man extended his hand to Kiran. “I’m Juan. You must be Kiran, my opponent, correct?”

  “Yeah, I am,” Kiran said, reaching up to shake his hand.

  “I’ve seen some of your matches at Mt. Battle. Your battling style is wonderfully oppressive,” Juan said.

  Kiran raised his eyebrows in surprise. “There’s footage? I didn’t know that…” he trailed off.

  Juan ignored that and beamed at him. “It’s been months since I battled in front of a crowd. I hope we can put on a beautiful performance!”

  Joan tilted her head at that. “Uh, I guess so?” Kiran managed.

  Juan’s smile faltered a bit at that response, as he stared at Kiran. “I mean, I’m gonna take this seriously, but I’m just not used to thinking of battling as a ‘beautiful performance’,” Kiran said, as he looked off to the side in a bit of discomfort.

  Kiran thought that might’ve killed the mood a bit, but Juan’s face softened at his words. “Ah, yes, you obviously wouldn’t being from that land. No offense,” he said.

  “I mean, you’re being accurate,” Kiran shrugged.

  “Have you heard of Pokemon Contests, then?”

  Kiran squinted and looked down, thinking. “Vaguely? All I know is they aren’t just about battling,” he said after a pause. Juan’s reaction was almost comical, raising his eyebrows and covering his open mouth with his hands. “Okay, now you’re annoying m-”.

  Just then, the door opposite the one that Kiran and Juan had come in opened, and a woman walked in. “The match is about to start. We’re ready for you two to go on the field now,” she said.

  That was their cue, then. Kiran returned Joan to her Pokeball, and the two of them left the waiting room. On the way to the arena, Kiran definitely felt more confident than he did a few minutes ago, though some worries were still there. Maybe he was concerned with what impression he would make during the match? After all, Juan clearly thought of battling in a different way than Kiran, and Juan was well-known around these parts.

  After a minute or so, they had finally reached the entrance to the arena. The woman from before handed them both an earpiece that also came with a microphone. Kiran was confused for a second, but realized they were both wearing them, so there was no point in complaining. “Good luck!” Juan waved, as he turned to their right to take his place on the opposite end of the arena as Kiran.

  “You too,” Kiran muttered. He fitted himself with the earpiece then walked up the stairs in front of him and emerged on a platform overlooking the stadium. Kiran could see the faint shimmering of a barrier in front of him that looked like it surrounded the entire arena. The energy was crazy. There must have been at least, thousands of people in these stands, way more than what he was used to.

  “Welcome, everyone!” said the commentator that Kiran couldn’t see. “Welcome to another year of our beloved Elite Tournament! Where the best of the best from all over Shinwa come together to showcase their skills!” The crowd roared loudly at that.

  “For our first match, on this end, we have a newcomer to this tournament! A mysterious Trainer from the wild lands of Orre! Not much is known about him, but his battling was enough to hang with, or even conquer the best at their coliseums. Give it up for Kiran Acosta!”

  Was he mysterious? Whatever, judging from the loud cheering from the crowd at that introduction, it helped his image. Kiran gave a small wave to the audience.

  “His opponent needs absolutely no introduction to anyone here. He has been a titan of Hoenn for far longer than I’ve been commenting matches, our champion’s mentor, the Sootopolis City Gym Leader, a frequent Master Coordinator. He has been instrumental at protecting us at our region’s lowest, give it up for Juan!”

  The crowd exploded after that introduction, as the man himself walked on to a similar platform to Kiran’s, just at the opposite end of the stadium. He waved and even blew kisses. He was clearly a bigger deal here than Kiran had realized.

  They both released their first Pokemon at the same time. From Kiran’s side, Lamia came out. The Grimmsnarl seemed a bit surprised by the new environment, but got over it pretty quickly.

  From Juan’s side, came a… Samurott? Though Kiran had never seen one that looked like this before. The same blue body as normal, but the armor on their legs and head, as well as their head sword were black with red streaks instead of the usual golden. Their eyes locked on Lamia and they sneered, which Lamia returned.

  “What is this, everyone?! Our Juan has never shown this Pokemon to us before! A pleasant surprise, to be clear. Hopefully, Kiran can adjust to this!” the commentator said.

  Oh, he was hoping too. In case of any surprise, that’s why Lamia was out first.

  Kiran let out a breath. Whatever doubts he had didn’t matter. Like clockwork, he just had to fight.