[IC] The Pokémon World League

[Hey Im Jordan]

Alexander had gathered his team into what Hanae had called ‘the war room,’ which was essentially a room of the castle that was a meeting room. A giant, oaken table, with ergonomic (that’s what Hanae said, Alex thought they were just uncomfortable) chairs surrounding it was plopped in the center of the room. Alex sat at the head of the table, and behind him was a wall screen, currently displaying the splash logo of their team name. In front of him was his team. Ritzy, the vice captain, to the right. Across from her was Aya. Down from them, Harry to the left and Sully across from him. Finally, Samantha on the left, and Lindsay to the right. That left Alex’s anchor, Dilan, at the far end of the table.

This was their first ‘official’ team meeting at the table, and Alex hoped it wouldn't be their last. If it was, then clearly he was a bad Captain. What kind of Captain didn’t call meetings to at least talk about the upcoming League events? The other possibility was… they dropped the ball and Hanae fired every single one of them.

Neither option was something he was interested in, so he intended to be a good team leader, and never lose hard enough that she fired them. “Okay. So, first of all, thank you all for coming — especially you, Dilan. I know that 11:30 is a little early for you, so I really appreciate it. As you all know, we are coming up on the first event of the season, and we’ll be going up against Titus Graves’s team, and like that’s probably the most exciting thing that’s ever happened in my entire life? He’s basically who I wanted to be when I grew up, and now here I am. Becoming him. I’m gonna be doing the singles battle at this one, so that means it’s gonna be me versus him.” Alex had a dumb grin on his face as he announced this, like a child whose dream was coming true. Which, it kind of was.

“So, Dilan, I went ahead and signed you up for a Pokémon Strongman competition. You’ll be up against this girl here. Her name is Reagan Porter, but her sheet says she just likes to be called ‘R.P.’ Here’s her file, you can look at it.” Alex said, before he slid the folder containing information on the girl across the table and to his best friend. “Her team is pretty rad, so like, good luck. I figure this is totally your vibe, right?”

Without giving Dilan much chance to respond, he kept moving down the list. “Okay. Samantha, you’ve got a double battle against, uh. Holy damn, this guy is looking real jacked… Cassius Frasier? I don’t know these people, they must be new to the League… Hanae still found us some tape footage. Anyway, it’s just a standard double battles. You pick four of your Pokémon, he picks four of his. No field gimmicks or anything.” Down the way toward Samantha came the file with information on this Cassius guy.

“Lindsay, you and Harry are teamin’ up this time. You guys are in a relay race against, uh… Whoa, this girl is super colorful… I’m kind of like, in awe at the color in this lass’s clothing. Uh, Lulu Williams?” He shrugged his shoulders, and slid the folder on the girl to Lindsay, before turning his attention to Harry. “Here, you can have this other guy’s folder. Montgomery Collier. Wicked name. Bet he can’t race worth a damn. I’m sure it doesn’t matter which one of you two I slide these folders to, but whatever. Ya get what ya get.” The folder came sliding down toward Harry, before Alex launched into the next half of his speech.

“The race is broken down into two parts. One is just a straight track race, and the second? That’s a water race — with a buncha obstacles. Also you have to ride your Pokémon. I’m sure you’ll do fine! That brings me to Sully… You’ve got a single battle too! Just with a stage gimmick. Which, this time is apparently, uhm… Fire and Brimstone? I’m not sure why it’s that, but like… All that means is the stage opens with the same effect as like Sunny Day, and also it means there are a bunch of rocks on the field, like obstacles. Stuff to provide cover. Really fun! I’m kinda jealous.”

Alex grinned in Sully’s direction, before he looked down at the folder. “This guy’s name is… no, way… this guy’s name is just… Okay, so the paper just says ‘Slade.’ But that can’t be right! Right? Whatever, here’s the folder.” And so, the next folder was slid down to the applicable team member, leaving Alex with just Aya and Ritzy to assign.

“You guys get contests, duh du jour. Ritzy, you’re getting the themed contest which is Winter Wonderland. Totally your vibe. You’re against this chick that looks like she could give the other jacked guy a real run for his money. I know how good you are so I don’t really need to give you a speech. Her name is Daphne.” So, Alex simply gave her the folder, before turning his attention to the last (but definitely not the least), Aya. “There’s a plain Jane contest that I stuck you in. Against somebody named Piers O’Brian. Now, I watched all your tapes, so I know you’ll probably be fine too. Here’s his stuff… Guy looks like he has greasy hair.” With the last folder given up, Alex’s team Captain work was done.

“Any questions?”

Opponent Teams

R.P.

• Conkeldurr
• Primeape
• Rapidash
• Azumarill
• Skarmory
• Weavile

Lulu Williams

• Audino (Mega)
• Butterfree
• Lilligant
• Alolan Muk
• Ampharos
• Oricorio

Montgomery Collier

• Alakazam (Mega)
• Metagross
• Trevenant
• Gliscor
• Salazzle
• Golisopod

Cassius Frasier

• Forretress
• Alolan Golem
• Weezing
• Chansey
• Skarmory
• Magmortar

SLADE

• Zoroark
• Sableye (Mega)
• Crobat
• Aegislash
• Marowak
• Gyarados

Piers O’Brian

• Luxray
• Alolan Sandslash
• Beedrill (Mega)
• Krookodile
• Scolipede
• Decidueye

Daphne Reyes

• Charizard (Mega Y)
• Volcarona
• Venusaur
• Mandibuzz
• Mamoswine
• Torkoal

Titus Graves (Captain)

• Lucario (Mega)
• Gengar
• Greninja
• Garchomp
• Pangoro
• Rampardos

[CaptainMarvel]

_{Location: Castle Layton, War Room}

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Aya twirled a pencil around her fingers, a pink notepad and a glass of water sitting in front of her on the table. She'd been to hundreds of meetings in her life, with hundreds of different people. This one, at least, was a little interesting. First off, they were here to discuss their competition. Competition was sort of her thing. It gave her peace of mind to know just who she would be up against, so she would always do her research beforehand. This time, someone else did it for her, which was nice. Second, she was in an actual castle, which was pretty neat. A faint smile crossed her face as she remembered the first time she'd seen Layton Castle; the place was so much bigger on the inside than she'd expected. Plus, her room had a really big window overlooking a garden. Not even her villa in Sinnoh had something like that. And third, well...

Third was Alex.

Aya had seen plenty of beautiful people in her life. Contest coordinators sort of have to be beautiful to make it, which she thought to be a sad truth of the industry. But most of the contest coordinators she'd met in her life tried too hard to be hot and beautiful and attractive. Alex was sort of effortlessly hot, which wasn't something she was used to. Maybe battling meant there was less pressure to look good? Though, everyone in the room was attractive in some way or another; but Alex carried himself a certain way that she'd noticed the instant she met him. He was oddly self-assured, like he'd been born ready to lead this team. She liked that. As he started listing off names, Aya quietly wrote them down, just for good measure. Just because he was cute doesn't mean she wasn't paying attention.

Most of the names Aya didn't recognize. She supposed that was why they were going over them. She paused for a moment to take a sip of water, just as Alex mentioned the name "Daphne". Aya's eyes widened, and she almost choked on her water, but she didn't think anyone noticed. Why is she here? she wondered, trying to remain outwardly calm. Maybe it was some other Daphne, she thought, but Alex mentioned that she was "jacked". The only "jacked" coordinator named Daphne Aya knew was her ex, which was pretty bad news for her. Look on the bright side. You know her usual routines, maybe you can help Ritzy out. At the very least, it was just a bad coincidence. Couldn't get any worse, right? Finally, Alex looked at Aya, and she took the moment to give him a sweet smile. She'd always heard good things about her smile.

Of course, her smile fell when Alex said "Piers O'Brian". Two exes. On one team. Sometimes Aya wondered if there was any sort of higher power out there, but in this moment she thought that any higher power must only exist to torment her. Piers O'Brian was a troubling reminder of her "rebellious" phase, when she was barely eighteen and dating "edgy" guys. A painful memory came to mind of a time when his lip piercing happened to pierce her lip, and she bled all over his face. Aya reflexively touched her thumb to her mouth, wondering if the scar was still visible. She hoped not. A panicked thought hit her: Piers O'Brian might look like he got kicked out of a B-list metal band, but he was a good coordinator. Possibly better than her. She had a lot of work to do, she realized as she opened the folder. She recognized a photo of him from several years ago, when he won a big contest in Hoenn.

Quit thinking about your ex, she told herself as she looked back up at Alex. You've got better things to do. Aya had always been told she had a flirtatious personality, but she was perfectly fine with that. "Um, I have a...comment," she said, resting her chin on her hand. "I'm pretty...familiar with both of the coordinators you mentioned. I'd be happy to discuss some strategies with you, if you'd like," she continued, tucking the end of her pencil in her mouth in a manner that could only be described as suggestive. As she did so, she reached her foot out to stroke Alex's leg under the table. What was that called again? Playing footsies?

[CaptainSully]

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Location: Castle Layton - War Room
Tags: Nobody Specific
[♫]

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For years Sully had quite happily travelled the world in search of the best trainers he could find, but the last few months had become difficult. Many of the top trainers had signed up to teams and flat out refused to battle a nobody who's only claim to fame was his live stream battles. In reality he was known on the scene for beating some strong trainers but his lack of credentials meant it was difficult to convince the elite trainers to battle. That was why he was now in this massive castle atop a hill...to join a team. This would ensure, that assuming the team performed, that he would be able to come up against the best trainers the world had to offer.

Standing in his new room Sully took a second to admire all that had been provided to him and presumably the rest of the team. A most comfortable looking bed, a fully equipped entertainment centre and much more pleasing for him, a balcony that reached around his corner room. While they would likely not be spending massive amounts of times in their rooms, Sully was still appreciative of the effort. He briefly stepped out onto the balcony and marvelled at the view it provided, lost in it's beauty...that was until his phones alarm went off. Returning to reality was like a slap to the face as he had to leave the beautiful view behind and venture deep into the giant, stone castle.

Eventually Sully found himself sat around a large table with what was going to be his future team. Introductions and conversations had been minimal to non-existent beyond the sharing of names and the most basic of chit-chat. Leo was a social person and he was sure that he'd make friends with the majority of those around the table, but at that exact moment he was too excited to see what his first opportunity was going to be. Alexander had began handing out folders, giving everyone a brief bit of detail about what their task was and who they would be going up against. It didn't take long until Alex passed Leo the folder along the table, a grin etched into his face. He had commented on Leo's opponents lack of a second name, causing Sully to let out a soft chuckle. Reaching out to stop the folders slide, Leo brought his hand down onto it. "Cheers." He nodded at Alex in acknowledgement before the captain continued to the others.

The front of the file only had the name Slade printed across it but inside was a wealth of information, some of it personal while the rest was about his pokemon and history of battling. For a moment Leo paused as he realised that Slade was almost certainly going to be reading a file on him. 'I hope this guy brings his A game with him,' Leo thought to himself. As he read through the file he eventually reached a list of the pokemon in his opponents team. The one that stood out to him was Aegislash, the ghost and steel type was a formiddable pokemon. Leo knew exactly what they could do but that was because he had one himself. Fortunately he was confident that he'd be able to deal with whatever tricks Slade may have up his sleeve. Finishing off his light reading he closed the folder and stretched his arms out wide while letting out a deep yawn. A rumble in his stomach soon followed and he couldn't help but speak up.

"Is anyone else here hungry?" Leo began to look up and down the table at the others. "I mean is this place a case of set meal times or can I literally go raid the kitchen whenever I want?" Sully was fortunately blessed with a very high motabolism so his frame hid the sheer volume of food he consumed on a daily basis.

[Bee]

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A short-haired, lithe, young girl sat by in what was aptly named the "War Room". Sitting perfectly upright, Lindsay and her Bayleef, Bae, were listening intently to their wonderful leader, Alex, give everyone the gameplan for the next event. Bae was lounging next to Lindsay's seat, her eyes staring up at the leaf on its head. Despite the flimsy nature of the leaf on Bayleef's head, it remained perfectly still, but yet Bae was perfectly tantalized by it. It had nothing better to do than to look at the leaf on its head. She was pretty sure Lindsay didn't want her to move around, so the little leaf dinosaur hung out in the War Room.

Lindsay, in the meantime, was listening to Alex. So they had "rivals" eh? Lindsay figured she was going to have one eventually. She didn't say or do much, but her battling prowess did more than enough to compensate for Lindsay's lack of glamour. She was eager to see which rival she was going to get. Dilan got a strongman competition, which was something that Lindsay had never even heard of. Why was it called strongman if Dilan wasn't going to be the one that was lifting. If anything, it should've been called the strongpokemon competition. Didn't matter though, Vigoroth was going to destroy everything and everyone in its way.

Samantha got something cool. She got the thing that Lindsay was the best at. Already, she was kinda jealous about it but hopefully Alex had something better in store for Lindsay.

And as it turned out, it wasn't what she wanted. Apparently, she'd been entered into a relay race. Not exactly the best use of her skills, considering she was definitely recruited for her battling skills and not anything else. How was this gonna work? She knew Harry was definitely a capable person, but like, what would her Pokemon do? How would the assignments work? She didn't know which Pokemon were going to be the best in their category. Were they gonna use Harry's Gyrados? Or Lindsay's Lapras? What about Lindsay's Arcanine? Or Harry's Espeon? There were a lot of thoughts firing through Lindsay's mind. So much so, that she had completely spaced out and everyone else's assignments had went into one ear and left the other.

Why would she be in a relay race? She knew that her Pokemon were more than capable of accomplishing anything they set out... but this was definitely uncharted territory for everyone. The experienced trainer had definitely seen a lot of stuff in her years of training and battling, but nothing like this. She didn't expect to enter a relay race and have her Pokemon compete in ways besides that.

Still, she wasn't one to complain. As long as she got the victory she didn't give a single fuck in the world. Besides, it was good to expand your horizons. It was good to diversify your portfolio. Maybe having victories in things besides battling was going to make her more marketable. She knew that she had a severe deficiency when it came to marketability (among many other things), so a victory in this case would make things a lot better.

Looking up, she realized there was a file in front of her face. Was this her rival? The folder was attracting her like a magnet. As much as she didn't care about the rival (because she knew she was going to beat them), she still wanted to know what that person had in store. Opening up the file, she looked down at the picture of her rival. My god. Just looking at the picture, she already hated this girl. She could just taste how obnoxious this girl was.

Looking through the piece of paper, she then sized up the team. As much as this girl made her want to puke, she still had a good team. Not better than hers, but still pretty good. "Oh." That was all she had to say regarding the reveal of her rival. When it came to the questions, she had none for Alex. The questions she DID have were those for Harry. They were gonna have to figure out how to do this thing.

Placing a hand on Bayleef's head, she started to pet it idly, as she waited for other people to ask their questions if they had any.

[King Cosmos]

Samantha caught the folder that was slid down the table at her by placing a hand over it before turning her attention back to Alex. As someone who had never paid much attention to what the league did during her travels she was interested to see if it did more than just battles and contests; not that there was anything wrong with either of those events, her own disinterest in contests aside, battling was her wheelhouse after all and she loved it. But Samantha had always enjoyed taking part in those eclectic little events that existed all around the world whether they were local traditions, festival games or something bigger; if taking part in the league meant missing out on those kinds of events then she was going to be sorely disappointed.

So it was that as Alex continued to hand out the assignments a small smirk slid into place on Samantha’s face when she heard that there were going to be both a strongman competition and a relay race in the very first event. In all honestly, she had always thought the league was just a place where the trainers with a little more flair got snapped up for sponsorship deals, and while that may still turn out to be true she was glad to hear that they at least took part in a diverse range of competitions; land races like that one she took part in in Kanto or a water race like that one Gym leader in the Orange Islands liked to do, and although she had never taken part in a strongman competition that only meant that the league held events that she had yet to experience.

When their team captain was done Sam finally flipped open the folder to see her opponent’s photo staring back at her. Alex wasn’t wrong when he called him ‘jacked’ and she had to admit that Cassius Frasier was a pretty cool sounding name but at the end of the day her opponent’s looks didn’t really make much of a difference; no matter how intimidating the guy might be he wasn’t the one she had to beat. It was his Pokémon she had to worry about and looking at this team? She was going to be fine.

From his muscles and scars Sam had expected Cassius to be the kind of guy who focused on strength, but instead his team was made up of Pokémon known for their bulk and their high defence. This was pretty much the antithesis of Samantha’s own battling style which would probably make for a pretty interesting match come the day she had to face this guy.

Scanning through his team again she compared it to her own, considering strengths, weaknesses and type match-ups before coming to a quick decision on which four Pokémon she would use for this battle and closed the folder. There was more information she had yet to read and Alex had mentioned something about tapes of previous battles, but this was likely to be the last time Sam looked at the folder or anything to do with her opponent until the day of the event. Battles were supposed to be fun, you weren’t supposed to overthink it and you definitely weren’t supposed to do homework for them. It was probably due to this attitude that Samantha had never won any of regional leagues she had taken part in. Not that this mattered much to her; Sam had always been someone who sought out experiences rather than accolades.

Leaning back in her chair and linking her hands behind her head Samantha looked across the table at the man who had just mentioned food. “I could eat.”

@CaptainSully

[Sloth]

_{Location: Castle Layton, War Room}

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If it weren't for the fact that he had his chin firmly planted in his own arms and a Pokemon currently positioned under the hood of his sweater, Dilan Torie likely would've responded to Alex's prodding. If it weren't for the fact Alex had all but blackmailed him, he wouldn't have been here in the first place. As far as he knew he had been the first member of the team to file in. That he had done so in an attempt to catch up on sleep before everyone else arrived was besides the point. He made quite the sight, to be certain, one doesn't usually expect a Regional Champion to be the type to sleep through meetings. Or attempt to, anyway. From the snoring, he could tell his companion had the boon of being able to sleep through the commotion. Dilan did not have such luxuries.

He did have the wherewithal to sit up when his designated folder slid into his hands. He gave only a cursory glance at the name and photograph of his first round opponent and instead focused solely on the list of her registered Pokemon while Alex began distributing similar files around the table. A strongman competition meant one thing, and what Dilan saw on the document only confirmed this fact. Conkeldurr? Primeape? All that was missing was a Machamp and a Hariyama. Well, at least he didn't have to agonize over which member of his own team he'd be bringing to his first outing. No, what he had to worry about was training said team member for the event. The mere thought of it sent a shudder down his spine.

While Dilan was busy agonizing internally, a pair of his teammates brought up one of the few things that could rouse him from his sudden depression; food. If there was any one thing Dilan loved as much as his Pokemon did it was food. It also served as a convenient excuse for him to get out of the godforsaken, troublesome, and uncomfortable thing that passed for a chair, and so, Dilan rose from his place at the table and made way for the door without any prompting from his peers.

"I don't know about you guys, but I'm gunna go make some pancakes or something."

Just like that, the Hoenn Regional Champion was out of the War Room and on his way to the kitchen, folder in hand and a fast asleep Eevee still atop his head.

[Fabricant451]

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If someone had asked her four years ago where she'd be in four years Ritzy's answer would likely have been the standard and dull. Working at a PokeMart and making an honest, if unexciting, living. She wasn't one for plans or excitement when the most exciting thing that had happened to her prior to this was the day her parents got divorced and she moved to Sinnoh with her mother. Even before she came to Sinnoh, back when she had a dream and aspirations and the belief that the world was her Cloyster and ripe for the taking, she didn't exactly live a life of excitement. But at least she had a goal back then, before the laughter. Before the mockery. Before running home in tears and holing up in her room. Before him.

The him in question was someone who never did quite give up on his dream even if it took him longer than usual to attempt to do anything about it. She remembered well the day she moved to Sinnoh and he and his mother, her new neighbors, knocked on the door. At the time they were just kids, one who just had her dream crushed on and left to die in an alley and her life changed thanks to a nasty divorce and the other...well...the other one helped her rekindle the childhood dream she had while they promised to make them come true together.

Looking at the two of them now, Captain and Vice Captain of a professional League Team, it was almost hard for Ritzy to believe she was even here. Not only had she accomplished her childhood dream - thanks in no small part to having Alex light a fire under her ass - but she was Co-Captaining a team based in her homeland. The last time she was in Kalos it was more of a business trip, though a night in Lumiose was a fond memory, but now they were representing her home on the grandest stage of them all. It was almost perfect.

Ritzy had her complaints about some of the people Alex picked for the team, and not just because he ignored basically all of her suggestions though that definitely didn't help her opinion that there were ulterior motives for some choices, but none of the complaints were quite so obvious as the utter contempt she had towards the other Coordinator on the team. There had been an argument she had with Alex - there were a lot more of them these days - and though she had let other choices such as 'That lazy plank from Hoenn' slide without a terrible amount of fuss, she was so opposed to the additional Coordinator that the decision had to be made over Ritzy's head just out of sheer exhaustion. There were only so many times a person could hear 'C'est un gros boudin! Elle pète plus haut que son cul!' before it just started sounding like the shrill shriek of a broken record.

Why, exactly, did the Vice Captain have such a...strong dislike for the other Coordinator of the team? She had her reasons, but the fact that she was basically staring at him with those ugly, dumb eyes of hers the entire meeting wasn't exactly coloring her mood to the positive. Not even the little yellow bug that Ritzy had lost a battle with (she wanted it on her shoulder, the Joltik preferred her hair), which had usually been cute enough to keep her mood on the up, was working its electric magic today. It didn't help that her small little bug - freshly from an egg not a week ago - was currently sleeping under her hat. For the sanity of everyone who had attended the meeting, it was probably a good thing that Ritzy was unaware of what the other Coordinator had been doing under the table.

That didn't stop Ritzy from rolling her eyes and scoffing - the latter of which she did at the general question of food and the solution of making pancakes. These people were living in one of the greatest culinary and cultural and artistic centers of the known world and they wanted to make stupid pancakes? The eye rolling was levied solely at the prissy little putain - or so Ritzy referred to her internally - and the fact that she even spoke to Ritzy. Or specifically about Ritzy's bread and butter and the reason why she got the VIP treatment at restaurants.

"Of course you are familiar with them." Even for a person specialized in Poison types like Ritzy, the venom in her voice was quite clear. "Jut as I am sure you wish to be familiar with...someone." She didn't drop Alex's name but the implication was stronger than Dilan's Vigoroth. "I do not need to hear any strategy from you unless it is an exit one." In all her stewing anger, Ritzy hadn't even looked at her opponent's file yet - she had her own priorities to worry about.

[McHaggis]

.

[Hey Im Jordan]

_{Mentions: Direct @CaptainMarvel
Location: War Room}

It may have been a combination of the things that were happening to, but the end result was the same. It took Alex a while to process everything and respond. Really, everyone was surprisingly on brand, or at least meeting his expectations. From Ritzy being somewhat snappy, to Dilan abandoning everything to go make pancakes… This was what he’d signed up for.

The confusing thing was Aya. Was she touching him under the table? Why was she touching him under the table? Alex had asked the others if they had questions, but now he just found himself left with questions of his own. She wanted to talk strategy with him? But why? He was a battler, not really a coordinator. He could do it, but he wasn’t the best. That was more Ritzy and Aya’s domain, which was why he’d drafted them in the first place… But! He was a good team leader.

All of them were hungry. Alex could understand that. Thinking made you hungry, and looking at the upcoming enemy was certainly enough to make someone think, which in turn made one hungry. Once Harry and Sully alike had asked about going to eat, all Alex could really do was shrug his shoulders and say, “Oh, yeah. Sure, go get something to eat. You can just go raid the kitchen whenever you want, Sully. I’m pretty sure that we just have whatever we ask for, so go nuts. If I were you though, I’d try to get pancakes from Dilan. Dude can cook.”

With that, Alex had effectively dismissed the party, and he turned his attention to Aya, squinting with narrowed eyes. “I mean, if you want? I’m not really… a coordinator, though. But if you wanna talk about strategies I guess I can give you some opinions? ...where do you wanna talk?” Alex had to do his own stratagems and stuff, but he was the team captain. He had to give time to those on his team who needed it.