Chereads / AU: Jessie’s Pokémon Journey / Chapter 59 - League Tournament Opening Ceremony!

Chapter 59 - League Tournament Opening Ceremony!

"Our heroes have made it to the Indigo Plateau as Jessie is so excited for the Kanto League Tournament competition soon!"

The gang is seen walking on the streets of the Indigo Plateau as Jessie is pumping her fist up in excitement. "I'm so excited for this! I already want to find out who's my very first opponent!" She says.

"Jessie, have you even signed up for the League Tournament yet?" James asked, raising an eyebrow.

Jessie's eyes widened once realizing that she didn't sign up yet. "I DIDN'T SIGN UP! I COMPLETELY FORGOT!"

Meowth facepalms in disbelief. "Just imagine finding out after the opening of the tournament cemetery that you didn't sign up. You're lucky Jimmy reminded you!"

"You can't compete in the league tournament without signing up." Domino looks at her Azurill with a cheerful smile and pets them. "Isn't that right, Azurill?"

Azurill cheerfully cries out in response. "Azurill!"

"Where's the location that I can sign up at?" Jessie asked while looking around.

James sighs, pulls out a book, and starts reading it. "You're so unprepared, you're lucky I grabbed this when we first arrived here." He starts flipping through the pages of the book before coming to a complete stop. "Here we go! 'Trainers can sign up at the registration center, which is located at the center of town.'"

Jessie sprinted off to the registration center as her friends looked on and sighed. "Let's go after her…" Domino says before sprinting off after Jessie as James and Meowth soon follow.

The title screen shows.

"League Tournament Opening Ceremony!"

Jessie has arrived at the registration center with Domino, James, and Meowth behind her, catching their breaths from running. "I would like to sign up for the Kanto League Tournament, please!" Jessie says to the registration lady.

The registration lady nods and starts typing on her computer. "Right. Can I get a name, please?"

"My name is Jessie and I'm from Pallet Town," Jessie answered.

"Okay, J-E-S-S-I-E, there we go!" The registration lady stopped typing to ask Jessie one more question. "May I see your Gym badges? As a reminder, the requirements to enter the Kanto League Tournament is eight or more badges."

Jessie nods. "Right." She pulls out her badge case from her purse, opens it up, and shows the registration lady her eight badges.

"Alright, let me just scan them to make sure they're legit badges." The registration lady grabs her scanner and scans every badge, the scanner lighting up green once scanning each of the eight badges. "Alright, everything sounds good to me!" The registration lady goes back to typing on her computer.

"So have I signed up yet?" Jessie asked.

"Jessie, patience!" Domino says.

"We've almost got you in, just have to upload your profile on the computer and…" The registration lady hits one more key. "You're in! Good luck in the tournament, Jessie!"

Jessie pumps up her fist in the air to celebrate. "Yes! I'm officially in the Kanto League Tournament! Woohoo!" She jumps up in the air to celebrate.

Domino looks on with an annoyed expression. "She is celebrating like she just won the whole thing yet, she hasn't had her first battle yet…"

James snickers. "That's Jessie for ya!"

"Azurill!" Azurill cries out.

After Jessie stops celebrating, she turns to the registration lady. "So when I'm going to know who's my first tournament matchup?"

"Oh, you're going to find out who you're facing after the opening ceremony ends!" The registration lady answered. "But in the meantime, you may spin to see which type of battlefield you will be playing in!"

Jessie looks at the woman with a confused look on her face. "Types of battlefield? I only know Pokémon types, not battlefield types!"

The registration lady was about to answer Jessie's question until James stepped in with the league book in hand. "I'll answer this, ma'am, don't worry!" James turns to Jessie while looking at his book. "You see Jessie, if you want to make it to the top sixteen of the league, you have to win all four of the battlefield areas first. The water battlefield, the grass battlefield, the ice battlefield, and the rock battlefield!"

The registration lady tells Jessie more information about the league tournament. "And all four type battlefield matchups and the top sixteen matchups will be three-on-three Pokémon battles! Anything else after the top sixteen are completely six-on-six battles!"

"Oh, I see!" Jessie says, turning to the registration lady. "I like to find out what type of battlefield I'm battling on, ma'am!"

The registration lady nods and starts typing on her computer. "Alright, I just placed your profile onto the spinner and please pay attention to the screen above you!"

The gang all look at the screen that's about them, it shows a spinner with a rock, ice, water, and grass symbol on it as the spinner begins spinning. After a few seconds, the spinner slows down and comes to a complete stop, landing on the water symbol.

"Congratulations, you will be battling on the water field first!" The registration lady smiles.

"Jessie better not pick me for this matchup…" Meowth says to himself with a grumble.

"Awesome! Thank you so much, lady!" Jessie bows, smiling back before she and her friends leave the registration area. It cuts to the gang back on the streets of the league tournament as Jessie was seen thinking. "What Pokémon should I use for the water battlefield?"

"How about using a grass-type Pokémon, Jessie?" James suggested. "Your future opponent could be thinking of using all water types for the water field, so catch them by surprise!"

"I like that suggestion James, but here's the problem, I don't have any grass-type Pokémon at all or even down at Professor Oak's Lab," Jessie replied, giving herself an idea. "That reminds me!" She sprints off.

Domino groans in annoyance. "Again?!" She says as she, James, and Meowth try to catch up with Jessie again.

It cuts to the Pokémon Center as Jessie is seen using their phones and dialing a number as well with Domino, James, and Meowth once more behind her and catching their breath. "What are you doing, Jessie?" Domino asked.

"I'm calling Professor Oak," Jessie answered, finishing dialing Professor Oak's number as she waited for him to pick up. "If anyone knows what I should do, it's the great Professor Oak!"

After a few seconds of ringing, Professor Oak picks up the phone and he appears on the screen next to the phone. "Hey Jessie! It's been a while since you called me."

"Hey Professor Oak! Guess what? I'm at the Indigo Plateau and I just signed up for it! I'm officially in the Kanto League Tournament!" Jessie smiles delightfully.

Professor Oak starts mixing himself some coffee while talking to Jessie on the phone. "Ahh, I see. My granddaughter Leaf called me a few days ago to tell me that she's in the league tournament as well and I was assuming you were gonna do the same thing. I have to say, from the very start when you and Leaf started your Pokémon journeys, I am very proud of both of you for making it this far."

Jessie chuckles to himself and rubs the back of his head. "Thanks, Professor!"

Jessie's mother, Miyamoto, appears in front of the screen to Jessie's surprise. "Hi, sweetheart!" She waves cheerfully at her daughter.

"MOM?!" Jessie yelled out in shock.

Domino, Meowth, and James all look around to see different trainers staring at the four after Jessie yells out. Domino growls. "How about you all mind your own business, huh?" She says before the trainers looked away from being scared. "Nosey people," Domino says to herself, before turning back to face the screen of the phone.

"Wh-what are you doing here?" Jessie says, a little embarrassed.

"Well, I came to ask Professor Oak if my baby has made it to the Kanto League Tournament and you have answered my question. What perfect timing! You were gonna call your mother next if I wasn't here, right?" Miyamoto said with an angry tone and expression on her face.

"Y-yes, of course, Mom, I was going to after my Professor Oak call."

Miyamoto goes back to a happy expression after Jessie answers her question. "Well, that's a relief! Well, Jessie, I'm very proud of you, and also, me and Professor Oak are going to watch you in the Kanto League Tournament! Don't let the nerves get to you, try to do your very best, mommy will always be proud of you and love you!"

Jessie smiles softly as she nods. "I love you too, mom. Thank you, but may I talk to Professor Oak now?"

"Of course, sweetie!" Miyamoto exits the screen as Professor Oak is behind her from the entire conversation.

"Sorry about that, Jessie." Professor Oak said, rubbing the back of his head embarrassingly. "Is there something that you want?"

"Actually yes, there's a certain reason why I called. You see, the first battlefield I'll be battling on is the water field, and what Pokémon do you think I should use?" Jessie asked.

"Hmm…" Professor Oak starts to think before answering. "That's easy, the Pokémon you should use is what you think is best for you. Any Pokémon can be strong, Jessie, as long as you believe and put your soul into them, you can accomplish a lot of things by doing that."

"Ahh, I see." Jessie nods and starts thinking a little.

"Just to let you know, all of your other Pokémon that you have caught along on your journey are right here in my lab." Professor Oak reminded Jessie. "If you want to make an exchange, just call me and that's it!"

Jessie nods. "Will do, thank you, Professor."

"Anytime Jessie, call me after the opening ceremony if you want to switch one of your Pokémon out." Professor Oak ends the call.

"So what are you going to do Jessie?" Domino asked. "This isn't the little leagues anymore, if you lose one battle, that's it for you in the tournament."

Jessie turns to Domino with an annoyed look on her face. "Gee, thanks Domino, like I didn't know that."

Azurill sees Jessie's annoyed expression while in Domino's arms and begins to tear up and then cry out loud. "AZURILL!"

This causes the gang to become scared as every trainer around them in the center begins covering their ears and insulting them. "Get that baby Pokémon out of there!" "Don't you three know how to take care of a baby?" "This is a hospital!" As more insults from the trainers were thrown towards the gang, they quickly ran out of the Pokémon Center as fast as they could.

It cuts to the gang walking on the streets of the Indigo Plateau with Domino trying to calm Azurill down. "Come on, please don't cry, pretty please. James, can you get Azurill's pacifier from my bag?" She says while trying to rock Azurill to sleep.

"Got it!" James looks in Domino's bag and pulls out Azurill's pacifier and hands it to her.

"Thanks!" Domino accepts the pacifier and places it in Azurill's mouth as starts rocking Azurill back and forth. "Go to sleep, little one."

Azurill slowly stops crying and begins to get a little sleepy as the Pokémon yawns. "Azurill…" Then Azurill falls asleep.

"We should find a place to stay," Meowth suggested.

"Good call. James, can look in your league book to find where the hotels are?" Jessie suggested.

James pulls out the book and starts flipping through the pages but soon he comes across a map in the book. "There's a map of the whole Indigo Plateau! Let's see, we just exited the Pokémon Center and…" James' eyes start moving all over the place on the map but soon sees the path to the hotels where they just left. "Here we go! Follow me, everyone!"

It cuts to the gang standing out at the entrance of the hotel, they're amazed by how the hotel looks with their mouths open in delight. "Wow, look at this hotel!" Domino stated.

"This is a five-star hotel, it's amazing!" Meowth added with delight in his eyes.

The gang walks into the hotel and they see Leaf at the counter as she turns around and notices them. "Hey guys!" She waves at them and runs up to the gang.

"Hey, Leaf!" Jessie greeted and waved back at her rival. "Professor Oak told me on the phone that you signed up!"

Leaf nods. "Yep! I got the rock field though, which field did you get first?"

"I got the water field! So it looks like there's no chance of us facing each other in the first round." Jessie chuckles and rubs the back of her head.

Leaf smirks, crosses her arms, and closes her eyes. "Good, because you would be already out of league considering that I beat you in our last battle."

"Aww, man!" Jessie falls in disbelief and sadness.

"Burn," Domino says, causing James and Meowth to chuckle.

Jessie quickly gets up on his feet and looks at Leaf with determination in her eyes. "Just you watch, the next time we battle, I'm going to win this time!"

"I can't wait, see ya later, Jessie." Leaf winks at her before leaving the hotel.

Leaf's wink causes Jessie to blush red as she immediately wants to move along. "L-let's just get a room to sleep in already…"

The gang walks towards the desk as the receptionist greets them behind it. "Welcome to the Indigo Plateau Hotel, how may I help you today?"

"We would like a room please, do we have to pay for it?" James asked, about to take his wallet out.

"Well that depends, are any one of you competing in the Kanto League Tournament?" The receptionist asked.

Jessie immediately raises her hand. "I am! I am!"

"Well, league tournament competitors can stay here for completely free during the whole league tournament. Can I have a name, sweetie?" The receptionist asked.

"Jessie! Jessie, from Pallet Town!" Jessie answered.

The receptionist starts typing on her computer next to her. "Let's see here, Jessie from Pallet Town, and search!" Jessie's profile pops up on the computer. "There you are!" The receptionist grabs a key behind her on the shelf and hands it to Jessie. "Here is your room key and good luck in the league tournament!"

Jessie smiles as she gladly accepts her room key. "Thank you so much!"

"Wait, is Jessie allowed to have guests?" Domino asked.

"As long the guests are staying in the same room with the competitor, we don't care." The receptionist answered with a smile.

"Awesome! Come on guys, let's go check out the room!" James suggested while being excited.

It cuts to the gang arriving on the floor where Jessie's room is as they arrive at the door. "Room… thirty-two, this is it!" Jessie confirmed, looking at the key number and the number on the door with both matching. She inserts the key inside the keyhole, turns it, and the door opens as Jessie and her friends enter their hotel room.

"Wow… this room is so lovely! Thank goodness this is all free or I would hate to see prices to stay one night at this hotel." Domino chuckles.

"I probably could afford my room anyways, it's just my parents want me to lower my spending for a little bit," James stated.

Meowth's stomach growls. "Jessie, I'm hungry! That means feed me some food!"

"James, do you have some Pokémon food for Meowth?" Jessie asked.

Before James could even look in his backpack, Meowth immediately spoke up. "I don't want no Pokémon food every single day! I want something different for once!"

Then Jessie, Domino, and James' stomachs all also growled at once. "Alright… let's head to a restaurant," Jessie suggested.

"Let me just tuck in Azurill before we do." Domino tucks Azurill, who's still sleeping, into one of the hotel beds as she turns to her friends. "Alright, let's go."

It cuts to the gang walking on the streets of the Indigo with James looking at the map inside his league book. "It says here the nearest restaurant from the hotel shouldn't be far from here." He confirms.

Jessie turns around, not looking where she's going. "That's great, that means we don't have to-" Her sentence was caught off after not watching where she was going and bumping into someone.

"Ow!" Both Jessie and the trainer said. "Hey, do you mind watching where you're-" The trainer is revealed to be someone that the gang has met before and that was Zayne as he turns to look to see that he bumped into Jessie. "Jessie?!"

Jessie's eyes widened, immediately recognizing the voice. "That voice…" She turns to look to see Zayne right in front of her. "Zayne?!"

"Wow, talk about a small world!" Meowth chuckles to himself.

Domino and James both wave hello at Zayne. "Hey, Zayne! It's nice to see you again!" Domino greets. "Yeah, it's been a long time!" James added.

Zayne gets up and dusts himself off. "Yeah! It's nice to see you all again as well! I bet you're all surprised to see me here at the Indigo Plateau, huh?"

Jessie nods and then she also gets up to dust herself off. "Yeah, because the last time we met, you had a long time struggling to beat Lieutenant Surge until we came along and helped you." She chuckles.

Zayne chuckles back and rubs the back of his head. "Yeah… thanks again for the help by the way, because you guys helping me encouraged me to get stronger and then I ended up getting the eight required Gym badges for the league tournament!" He pulls out his badge case to show his eight badges to the gang.

The gang sees Zayne's badges as they have a satisfying smile on their face. "That's great, Zayne!" Domino says.

"Thanks!" Zayne puts his badge case away and then pumps his fist in excitement. "I'm so ready to win the Kanto League Tournament, beat the Elite Four, and then possibly beat the champion and become the Indigo League Champion!"

Jessie scoffs and crosses her arms. "You have to go through me first before I'm looking forward to doing that too!"

"But didn't I beat you the last time we had a Pokémon battle?" Zayne questioned.

Once more, Jessie falls in disbelief. "Not again!"

Meowth can't help but laugh. "This is funny!"

"Oh… sorry." Zayne rubs the back of his head, embarrassed.

"It's fine!" Domino pulls Jessie up back on her feet. "We're about to head to a restaurant, do you want to join us?"

"It would be nice to have some company with us," James says.

Oh, I appreciate the offer, but I'm going to have to decline because I'll be training all day for my first league battle until the opening ceremony."

"That's something you should do, Jessie, if you want to make it far." Domino chuckles.

"I can't train on an empty stomach! I have to eat first, so let's go! It was nice to see you again, Zayne." Jessie starts to walk towards the restaurant as Meowth follows his trainer.

Dominic sighs. "Still stubborn as always. Well, it was nice to see you again, Zayne." She starts to follow Jessie.

"Yeah, nice to see you again!" James waves goodbye to Zayne before following his friends.

"See ya, guys!" Zayne waves goodbye back before heading off in a different direction.

It cuts to the gang sitting at a table and eating their food, Jessie is scarfing her food down fast. "This is so good!" She says and continues scarfing it down.

"Jessie! We are at a restaurant, can you show some manners, please?" Domino asked.

"It's because of me that this food is free, so I'll eat however I like. Thank you very much!" Jessie fires back and continues scarfing her food down.

"She's just got you there, Domino," James admits.

Domino rolls her eyes in response and she also continues eating her food, but more politely. "Whatever…"

"Well look what we got here!" A familiar voice was heard heading towards them and it was Oakley and her sister Annie. "Hey guys!" Annie greeted them.

Upon seeing Annie, Jessie swallows her food too early and starts choking for a little bit before swallowing it completely. She gets up from her table and greets Annie back shyly. "H-hi Annie, what are you and your sister doing here?"

"Oh, you don't know? Me and my sis are in the league!" Annie announced.

This causes both Jessie and James to gasp in shock. "HUH?!" They both yelled out.

Meowth laughs at Jessie and James' response. "Perfect reaction!"

Oakley chuckles. "Surprise!"

"But how are you and your sister in the league? I have never seen you both with Gym badges before." James asked, confused.

"We took the Pokémon League Admissions Exam and we passed!" Oakley holds up her badge of the Pokémon League Admissions.

Annie looks at her sister with an annoyed expression. "You mean that I gave you most of the answers to pass because I studied for them and you didn't…"

"H-hey, I passed the battle test all by myself, I deserve some credit." Oakley chuckles embarrassingly and rubs the back of her head.

"What's the 'Pokémon League Admission Exam'?" Jessie asked.

"Oh, it's an exam where if trainers can pass it, they will receive a badge like this here." Annie shows her league exam badge. "Upon receiving a badge, they can skip past the Gyms and automatically qualify for the Kanto League Tournament!"

"You mean I could've passed some exam instead of winning the badges to enter the league tournament?!" Jessie said in disbelief.

"Well… the Pokémon League Admission Exam is no joke, the tests are super hard, my sister barely passed it and she wouldn't if it wasn't for me," Annie said, glancing at her sister.

"I thanked you many times, stop reminding me about it!" Oakley groans and crosses her arms.

Annie chuckles, before continuing. "Not to mention that exams always happen five days before the league tournament, so if you fail them, then that's it for you until next year."

"If I heard about them before, I would've entered and passed, then I would be in the league tournament too," Domino says.

Jessie scoffs. "Oh please, you wouldn't make it past the first battle!"

Domino yells directly at Jessie. "WELL LET ME TELL YOU SOMETHING, I BEAT YOU THE LAST TIME WE FACED EACH OTHER IN A BATTLE!"

"Oh, that reminds me! I also won the last time in our battle, Jessie!" Annie recalled with a smile.

Oakley speaks up too. "I've also beaten you from the last time we fought, you know?"

Jessie looks down and frowns, knowing that they're all right. "You guys never give me a break…"

"There, there." James pats Jessie on the back to comfort her.

Meowth can't help but chuckle at everyone telling her that they beat her last time in a battle. "This is just amusing!"

Annie looks at the clock. "Oh, well look at the time, the opening ceremony is about to start soon. Bye, guys!" She waves goodbye to the gang as she and her sister leave the restaurant.

Jessie stands up. "That means we should get going too."

"Actually Jessie…" James yawns. "I'm going to stay at the hotel for the night to get some sleep. I'm not in the league, so I don't care about the opening ceremony."

"Now that you mention it, James, I will be joining you, so I can take care of Azurill," Domino says.

Jessie scoffs. "Wow okay, well you guys are going to be missing something big, but go ahead and go back to the hotel, like I care."

"I'll be joining them too, Jess," Meowth says. "You're on your own with this one."

"WHAT?!" Jessie yelled out in disbelief before sighing. "Okay, fine…"

It cuts to Jessie walking on the streets to the opening ceremony by herself as she arrives at the middle league stadium. She sees a bunch of other trainers. "Wow, look at all of these trainers…" She says, as Jessie continues to look around, she spots another familiar face, which is Samantha. "Is that Samantha?" Jessie walks towards her.

Samantha notices Jessie and waves at her. "Oh hello, I know you! You're Jessie, right?"

Jessie nods. "Yep! It's nice to see you, Samantha."

"It's nice to see you too, Jessie." Samantha notices that Domino nor James is with her right now. "Where's your friends at?"

"Oh, they're back at the hotel. They both said they're not coming to the opening ceremony tonight because they're not part of the league tournament." Jessie answered.

"Ahh, I see. That's a reasonable answer." Samantha replied while nodding.

"But I'm here and after the opening ceremony, I'm going to focus on beating whoever is my first opponent in the league!" Jessie pumps up her fist in the air in excitement.

"Well, good luck with that!" Samantha shyly rubs the back of her head. "Because the last time we battled, I beat-"

Jessie immediately interrupts Samantha, frustrated. "You don't need to remind me!"

Samantha chuckles. "Sorry."

The announcement speakers turned on as the opening ceremony was about to begin. "League tournament trainers, the opening ceremony is about to begin!"

The crowd of trainers in the league stadium all erupted in cheers from the start of the opening ceremony.

"Please welcome the person who will be leading the ceremony, our Indigo League Champion, he's a dragon master. Please welcome our champion, Lance!"

The crowd erupts to even louder cheers and claps at the name of Lance being mentioned as a thin man with spiky bright scarlet red hair, wearing a black cape with a blue outfit having orange stripes on it, appearing above the crowd of trainers in the stands. "Welcome, trainers!" Lance greets, as the crowd erupts into more cheers and whistles.

"YOU'RE HOT LANCE, PLEASE MARRY ME!" One of the female trainers yelled out.

Lance chuckles and rubs the back of his head. "Thank you, you're too kind."

"So that's Lance huh?" Jessie stated. "He's pretty popular, I say."

"Well he's the Indigo League Champion after all, once you become champion, you become the most famous person ever in Kanto," Samantha replied.

After the crowd is silent for a bit, Lance starts speaking. "I see potential in every single one of these trainers here tonight, after all, each trainer here had to go through a tough challenge by collecting eight Gym badges or having the intelligence to pass the league admission exam, doesn't matter how you got here, making it in here in the league tournament should be a huge accomplishment for all of you in the first place and you should all give yourselves a round of applause!"

All of the league tournament trainers on the battlefield gave themselves a round of applause for a few seconds before quieting down and letting Lance continue talking.

Lance starts explaining. "Now, if this is your first league tournament, here's how these work. If you manage to win your league battle on every type of field, the rock, grass, water, and ice field, you'll be in the very top sixteen and any league battle past the top sixteen will be a six-on-six Pokémon battle! Once passing the top sixteen, then the top eight is next, then the top four, and then you will be in the league tournament finals!"

The crowd erupts in cheers and claps once more from the league tournament finals being mentioned as Lance stays quiet, the cheers and claps quiet down.

Lance continues speaking. "The winner of the Kanto League Tournament will go onto the Indigo League, where they will face these people… the Elite Four!"

Behind Lance, four people slowly appear. One person was a female, she had red hair with glasses, a black shirt, and a purple skirt. One was a muscular man, who was shirtless with spiky black hair, also with a ponytail, having trousers with a black belt. One was a male with lilac hair, wearing a suit, and a domino mask. The final person was quite an old lady, who had short yellow hair, wearing a white apron, and was supported by a brown cane.

Lance starts introducing the Elite Four to the trainers. "Please welcome the Elite Four!" He walks near the red-haired Elite Four member. "First we have… Lorelei, specializing in water and ice type Pokémon!"

More cheers and whistles erupt for Lorelei as she smiles and waves at the crowd of trainers. "Thank you, thank you very much!"

Lance walks near the muscular Elite Four member. "The next member we have is Bruno, specializing in rock and fighting type Pokémon!"

Bruno flexes his muscles at the loud crowd as he winks at one of the female trainers who faint from the spot as he chuckles. "I still got it."

Lance walks near the next Elite Four member with the lilac hair. "And next up we have Will, who specializes in psychic type Pokémon!"

Will blows kisses to the loud crowd. "It's so lovely to meet such adoring fans!"

Meanwhile, in the crowd, Jessie realizes and remembers who Will is. "No way, this can't be!"

Samantha looks at Jessie with a confused look. "What is it, Jessie?"

"That's Will, I used to go to school with him! He helped me a lot on my first day." Jessie answered. "I never thought he would become an Elite Four member!"

"Wow, that's pretty awesome!" Samantha replied with a smile.

"And finally…" Lance walks towards the final Elite Four member to be introduced, the old blonde lady. "The last Elite Four member to be introduced, specializing in poison and ghost type Pokémon, give it up for Agatha!"

"Saving the best for last, are ya, Lance?" Agatha chuckles, before waving at the loud crowd.

Lance goes back to explaining. "Now that we introduced our Elite Four, if you want to face me, potentially beat me, and become the very new Indigo Champion, you have to win the league tournament and beat these very tough trainers first to do so! The Elite Four and I will be watching the league tournament closely, watching you all battle. Do you think you can do it?"

"YES, WE CAN!" The crowd of trainers all yelled out.

"Okay!" One of the staff members hands Lance a lit torch. "I shall be the torchbearer, once I light the central torch, the opening ceremony will conclude and the Kanto League Tournament shall begin!"

The crowd erupts into cheers once more as Lance starts walking toward where the central torch is. Lance lights the central torch as the fireworks begin exploding in the air, symbolizing the start of the Kanto League Tournament. More crowd cheers erupted and claps were also heard as well.

Lance takes a bow. "This concludes the opening ceremony of the Kanto League Tournament! Your first-round matchups have been posted for tomorrow in the main central building. Good luck with all of you, trainers!"

"Our first-round matchups have been posted! I'm going to take a look!" Samantha sprints off out of the league stadium.

"Well since that concludes everything, I should take a look too," Jessie says, also leaving the league stadium.

It cuts to Jessie arriving at the main central building of the Indigo Plateau, as she sees a bunch of other trainers already there and looking at their matchups posted on the screens.

"Let's see here… my first battle is on the water field, correct?" Jessie glances at the screen with the rock field matchups. "No." Then she glances at the screen showing the ice field matchups. "That ain't it." Then she glances at the screen showing the water field matchups. "There we go!" Jessie ends up finding her matchup on the screen, she is up against a male with shaggy black hair, a gray shirt, and some white pants. "So that person is my first league matchup, huh?"

A female trainer near Jessie notices her matchup and squeals. "Oh my gosh, your first-round matchup is against the one and only dreamy Isaac!" The female trainer sighs in love.

Jessie raises an eyebrow. "Isaac?"

"What?!" The female trainer yelled in shock. "Don't tell me you never heard of Isaac! He's like the most popular and charming guy in this tournament for the females! He's so dreamy!"

"EVERYONE, LOOK, ISAAC IS HERE!" A different female trainer screamed out, gathering all the other female trainers' attention.

Isaac slowly arrives at the central building with a smirk. "Thank you, girls, you're all too kind! I shall win the tournament to prove why I am the best!" Isaac looks at all the girls that are surrounding and in love with him, Isaac lands his eyes on Jessie, the one girl who isn't in the crowd, and he immediately falls in love. "Oh my… I have never seen a girl so… beautiful!"

"ISAAC THINKS SOMEONE HERE IS BEAUTIFUL!" One of the female trainers screamed out and the female crowd started arguing and yelling at each other about who Isaac was talking about.

As Isaac starts walking, the crowd of girls starts looking and staring at him, soon Isaac stops near Jessie and looks at her. He gets down to one knee and holds her hand, causing every girl to gasp in shock. "Miss, I would say that you don't capture my heart, but I would be lying. You are the most attractive girl I have ever seen."

"Umm… my name's Jessie" Jessie looks around to see every female trainer being mad and jealous of her. "Thanks? But I think you're my first-round matchup."

"Hmm?" Isaac looks at the screen to see his face paired up next to Jessie's. "Ahh yes, I believe this is fate, that we belong together. My sweet Jessie, please accept my confession and let us be together forever!"

"Uhh…" Jessie retrieves her hand from Isaac's grasp. "Sorry, but I'm not interested."

The female trainers all gasped in shock at Isaac being rejected as the charmer himself jaw dropped. "What?! Why?! No one has ever rejected the great Isaac!"

"Well, I just did it right now. You're a great guy and everything, but I just don't want to. Again, sorry." As Jessie walked towards the exit, every trainer was looking at her as she did so.

Isaac was looking on the ground, still on one knee as he started to become frustrated. "You're going to regret that Jessie… I will capture your heart and you will fall in love with me!"

It cuts to a bar in the hotel where Jessie is sitting on the stool and drinking a soda in the glass. "Wow, this soda is good!"

"Oh hey, Jessie!" Leaf was also at the bar and sat next to Jessie. "Were you at the opening ceremony?"

Jessie nods in agreement. "Yep! We got to see the Indigo League Champion himself, Lance, and the Elite Four as well!"

"I know!" Leaf responded with a smile. "I'm already excited about my first-round matchup as well!"

"Speaking of first-round matchups, mine just asked me out a few minutes ago." Jessie takes another sip of her soda.

"WHAT?!" Leaf yelled out in disbelief.

"I know right? It was so weird and everything, now I think almost every female in this tournament hates me." Jessie says.

"Is it that Isaac guy? Yeah, you made the right choice, the guy's a jerk honestly and you shouldn't spend your time on him." Leaf sounds a little annoyed and jealous.

"That's what I'm doing. Oh, I have to use the restroom, I'll be right back." Jessie gets up and starts heading to the restroom.

"I'll be right here!" Leaf said.

Oblivious from Leaf, there was Isaac behind her with a smirk on his face as he walked up to Leaf. "Hello!" He waves.

Leaf looks to see Isaac and has an annoyed look on her face. "Oh, it's you…"

"Not a big fan of me, huh?" Isaac says.

"Not every girl thinks you're attractive, dude. I do hope you know that." Leaf stated.

"Oh, I know that, don't worry, and- Is that a rare Pokémon in the bar?!" Isaac points in a random direction.

"Where?!" Leaf looks in the direction where Isaac pointed, as Leaf wasn't paying attention, Isaac puts something in Jessie's soda as she looks back. "I saw nothing."

"Oh, my apologies." Isaac shrugs. "I guess the trainer must've recalled it. Anyways, tell Jessie I said good luck in the battle against me." He walks out of the bar.

Soon, Jessie arrives back and sits back near Leaf. "I'm back!" She takes another sip of her soda.

"Great!" Leaf tells Jessie what Isaac just told her. "Oh, Isaac was just here and he told me to tell you that he wishes luck with your matchup with him."

"Oh really? He didn't propose to me or anything?" Jessie chuckles, taking another sip of her soda.

Leaf chuckles with her. "I guess not! Well, I'm heading to my room to go to sleep, night Jessie!"

"I should be doing that too, night Leaf!" Jessie says back.

It cuts to Isaac walking in the hallway with a devilish grin on his face. "I hope Jessie can get some sleep tonight if she can, she doesn't want to be late and disqualified in the tournament, does she?" He laughs.

It cuts to Jessie arriving inside her hotel room, she looks to see Domino, cuddling her Azerill, and James already asleep in their bed, Meowth is still awake, watching TV,

"You're still awake?" Jessie questioned.

"Yeah, this show is pretty good." Meowth notices the soda in Jessie's hands. "Are you going to finish that?"

"Huh?" Jessie looks at the unfinished soda in her hands. "Oh no, you can have it." She throws the bottle of soda to the talking Pokémon. "It was good, until right in the middle for some reason because now it had some different taste to it."

Meowth chugs the whole soda down with a satisfied smile. "Finally, something that isn't water!"

It cuts to later in the night with Jessie and Meowth still up and not asleep. "Why can't I go to sleep?" Jessie questioned, tossing and turning all over the place. "I'm asking the same question," Meowth says.

The scene slowly pans to an alarm clock, it shows 3:00 AM, then it cuts to the alarm clock showing 11:30 AM, thirty minutes until Jessie's first league battle and she and Meowth are sleeping, as James and Domino are gone. It cuts to the Team Rocket trio outside of Jessie's hotel room. "So this is the room where the twerp is staying in? Nice hacking in the hotel records, Mondo!" Cassidy praised.

Mondo shrugs with a confident smirk. "What can I say? I can hack stuff!"

"Alright Cassidy, pick the lock!" Butch ordered.

"You don't need to order me around!" Cassidy pulls out a hairpin from her pocket and starts picking the lock with it and soon, the door opens. "Bingo." She whispered.

Team Rocket slowly enters the hotel where they see Jessie and Meowth still sleeping in their bed. "There's the twerp's Meowth, still sleeping, perfect," Mondo whispered.

Butch slowly walks towards Meowth and grabs him. "HUH?! AH, LET GO OF ME!" Meowth yelled.

This causes Jessie to immediately wake up and see Meowth in Team Rocket's grasp. "HEY!"

"RUN FOR IT!" Butch yelled.

Team Rocket sprints out of the hotel room as Jessie immediately pursues them. It cuts to outside where Team Rocket is in their hot air balloon and Jessie is chasing it. Give me back, Meowth!"

Cassidy wags her fingers. "I don't think so!"

Jessie grits her teeth as she tries to reach into her purse to pull out a Poké Ball, but realizes she is grabbing air. "I left my purse back at my place!"

"Too bad, so sad huh, twerpette?" Butch laughs.

"We're finally going to steal Meowth!" Mondo exclaimed.

As Team Rocket was celebrating, thinking they had won, a masculine voice was heard, commanding his Pokémon. "Dragonite, fly into their balloon!"

The Team Rocket trio immediately gets scared. "A-a Dragonite?"

Dragonite roars its battle cry and flies directly into Team Rocket's hot air balloon, ripping a hole in it and causing it to spiral out of control. Team Rocket starts screaming as Butch drops Meowth, then they get blasted off. "LOOKS LIKE TEAM ROCKET IS BLASTING OFF AGAIN!" Ding!

"HELP, I'M FALLING!" Meowth screamed out, falling to the ground.

Jessie starts sprinting towards Meowth the fast as she can. "Even at my fastest speed, I don't know if I can catch Meowth."

As Meowth is getting closer to the ground, he closes his eyes to brace the impact, until he stops falling and slowly opens his eyes to look to see that the Dragonite from earlier caught him from falling. "I'm saved!" Meowth sighs in relief.

The Dragonite flies back to its trainer, who has silver laid-back hair with gray eyes, and a blue t-shirt, complete with a white and blue coat with black jeans. "Excellent job, Dragonite!" The Dragonite trainer pets his Dragonite who happily roars. He sees Jessie running towards him. "I believe this Meowth belongs to you." The Dragonite trainer hands her Meowth back.

Jessie immediately bows. "Thank you so much, mister! I left my Pokémon at my hotel in a rush and I thought Meowth was a goner! Wait… what time is it?"

The Dragonite trainer checks his watch. "Oh, it's 11:50."

"11:50?! MY FIRST LEAGUE BATTLE STARTS IN TEN MINUTES!" Jessie immediately sprints off to the hotel to get her Pokémon leaving the Dragonite trainer confused.

It cuts to the battlefield league building where the water field matchups are being held. Isaac is already there on his side of the battlefield, crossing his arms with an evil smirk. James, Domino, and her Azurill all look at the battlefield with worried expressions on their faces. "Where's Jessie? Don't tell me she's going to end up getting disqualified…"

"Azurill…" Azurill cries out in sadness.

James thinks. "I wonder why she stayed up all night."

The referee of this battle. starts getting impatient. "If the other challenger does not show up in the next five minutes, they will be disqualified from the league tournament competition!"

Isaac shrugs. "Oh well, I guess you have to-"

"I'M HERE!" Jessie screamed out, running into the battlefield with Meowth and her purse, while still in her pajamas. As soon as she makes it, she takes deep breaths. "I… made… it…"

A little silence from the crowd until someone spoke up. "Look! She's still in her pajamas!" Then the crowd all started laughing.

Jessie groans in annoyance and talks to herself. "I was so in a hurry that I didn't have enough time to change into my regular clothes, but that's fine, I didn't get disqualified, that's most important."

"Jessie is making a fool of herself…" Meowth says quietly.

Isaac has a little chuckle of his own. "Wow Jessie, I thought you were scared to show up, but I guess I can see that you forgot to set your alarm clock?"

"I did, I just somehow slept through it! But it doesn't matter, I'm here now and ready to battle!" Jessie declared.

"How about we make the stakes a little higher?" Isaac asked. "If I beat you, Jessie, you got to go on a date with me and if you win, I won't try to pursue anymore. Deal?"

Jessie thinks for a little bit before nodding. "You got yourself a deal!"

Isaac smirks before pulling out a Poké Ball. "Great!"

"Jessie, are you sure about this?" Meowth asked, concerned.

Jessie pulls out a Poké Ball of her own from her purse. "Trust me!"

The referee holds up both red and green flags. "Trainers, you may start the battle!"

"Tangela, I choose you!" Isaac sends out a Tangela to start the battle.

Tangela materializes onto the platform below the water. "Tangela!"

"Shellder, I'm starting with you!" Jessie sends out her Shellder first into battle.

Shellder materializes onto a different platform below the water. "Shellder!"

Domino and James look shocked in the crowd from Jessie sending out Shellder. "Is this the first time Jessie is using her Shellder in battle?" Domino questioned.

"I guess so… but I don't know if this is a good idea…" James responded, concerned.

Isaac commands the first move. "Tangela, use Vine Whip!"

Jessie immediately counters. "Shellder, use your withdrawal and defend yourself!"

Tangela starts extending its vines towards, Shellder, the bivalve Pokémon quickly clamps into its shell shut, but the vine Pokémon picks up Shellder with its vines while still withdrawing and throws the bivalve Pokémon to the battlefield wall, hard, as Shellder drops into the water and then pops up to the surface, fainted.

The referee declares the round, holding up the red flag. "Shellder is unable to battle, victor of this round goes to the red team!"

"And Shellder is already out…" Domino says.

James sighs. "I knew this would happen."

The crowd erupts in cheers as Isaac chuckles. "Already out one Pokémon, huh?"

Jessie grits her teeth and recalls Shellder. "Shellder, return!" She pulls out a different Poké Ball. "Ekans, you're up next!" She sends out Ekans next to battle.

Ekans materializes. "Ekans!"

Jessie commands the first move of the round. "Use Toxic, Ekans!"

Ekans opens its mouth and releases a black smog right at Tangela.

"Dodge it and use Stun Spore!" Isaac countered.

Tangela ducks to dodge the black smog that Ekans released, then the vine Pokémon shakes its body, and waves of red powder come out of it, hitting and paralyzing snake Pokémon as static surrounds it.

Jessie grits her teeth in anger. "Oh no, Ekans is paralyzed! Ekans, try to use Bite!"

Ekans tries to dash toward Tangela to bite it, but the paralysis stops the snake Pokémon dead in its tracks from using the move.

"And now finish it off with Slam!" Isaac commanded.

Tangela's vines extend to Ekans as the snake Pokémon is grabbed and then slammed directly on the platform by the vines. "Ekans!" Ekans cries out in pain before fainting from the battle.

The referee holds up the red flag. "Ekans is unable to battle, the winner of this round is the red team, Isaac and Tangela!"

The crowd explodes in cheers again as Isaac bows. "Thank you! Thank you!" He turns his attention to Jessie. "I can't wait for our date, wouldn't you say, Jessie?"

"Well if Jessie loses, at least she gets a date, right?" Domino says.

"I guess so…" James responded.

Jessie recalls Ekans back in its Poké Ball. "Ekans return!" She stares directly at Isaac, who stares back as the two have a staredown.

Meowth tries to encourage Jessie. "Come on Jess, you got to focus more or you're going to lose on your first league battle!"

"Jessie is down to her last Pokémon and with Isaac still having three Pokémon left, is the end already for Jessie and the League Tournament? Find out as the journey continues!"