this is the run, we are invincible

[domeinion]

[The days are here, and the Battle Park is all done up for the show. Banners with a weird shield-like symbol announce the Dome-tide tournament, and everything is organized in an orderly fashion. Everyone who signed up will be directed to their place and given a free water and name tag, and spectators will get a program detailing all the matches and locations.

The prizes are... well, something that a weird nerd would think are good prizes. First prize gets a Nugget, second a bunch of EXP candy, and third and fourth get literally just 30 Ulternian Poké Balls each. She had to be talked out of giving you textbooks.

select your team, b yourself, and have fun!]



[HOW IT WORKS

The bracket was seeded with characters who were signed up on the thread linked above for the month's plotting post! Since there were 10 teams and thus four people would have had to play an extra round, I gave those slots mainly to people who signed up multiple characters. You can find the bracket here with all the results, which were done via RNG.

The matches can be threaded out on the post in their toplevels according to the RNGed results, or can be skipped, depending on player preference. There will be a toplevel for rounds 1, 2, 3, and 4, and another for general spectating.

ICly, this runs on the 12th, but backtags until whenever are fine as always! This is a player-run event, so if you need anything, let me know!]

Comments

[ulternprofessor]

The girl noticing Gold making his way over to her, and pretending she's Banyan got a laugh and grin out of her.

"Ahaha, Uncle Beni you should consider going out more without your lab get up." It's clear once she spoke, she wasn't Ulternian from her accent. All the while, the girl is playfully elbowing Banyan who gave a sheepish smile in response to her light teasing. Pulling up to her feet, she clapsed her hands behind her back while looking Gold up and down. "Hm, hm!"

"Lemme introduce ya two, Gold this here is R-"

"Blaze!" She interrupted, grinning wide. "The name's Blaze! Nice to meet you~!"

[gold_drum]

A part of Gold is kind of annoyed at seeing this girl so close with Banyan, but he's told himself to quit that kind of behavior, so he keeps that to himself, smiling as his joke landed.

While she looks him up and down, Gold watches closely and analyzes her as well. She seems like a fun person, but something's nagging him about her. The shades and hat hide her face, but Gold has a feeling he's met her. Or somebody who looks like her, maybe? An alternate version of her?

"Blaze, huh?" Gold says cheerfully, pretending he didn't hear Banyan starting a different name. "You look kinda familiar, have we met?"

[ulternprofessor]

"Yep, yep! Blaze the name, don't wear it out." She giggled behind her gloved hand. At Gold'a question she stopped to stare at Gold. "Hmmm..."

After a significant pause she nodded to herself.

"Nope, I only heard about you from Uncle Beni!" She beamed. "You're much cuter than I thought! I just wanna pinch your-"

"Ah, Blaze how about we congratulate Gold for how far he's made it?" This time it was Banyan's turn to interrupt, followed with a chuckle.

"Oh! Right! Congrats Gold! Your battling was pretty fly!"

[gold_drum]

"Okay, Blaze! I won't wear it out, Blaze," he says with a grin.

Recognizing her would be so much easier if she just took off those shades. Would it be rude to ask her to take them off? Probably.

He leans back a bit when she talks about pinching, making an annoyed face, but goes right back to smiling like it was nothing when Banyan interrupts.

"Thanks! Hey, can you take off those shades? I wanna try them too," he says, pointing at them. He's rude now.

[ulternprofessor]

"Hmm," Blaze took note of that annoyed look despite her laughing and obvious teasing. Maybe she was being a bit too much for him? She didn't have time to reflect on her behavior when Gold pointed out the shades.

Oho? What's this? He wants to play? Okay, two can play this game.

"What? But...but Uncle Beni said I can wear these!" She feigned sounding hurt before quickly latching to a surprised Banyan's arms. "If you want to wear them you have to ask Uncle Beni first, anyway! But he only gave me special permission first!"

"What the-? Blaze, what are ya saying?" Banyan blinked, clearly baffled by the shenanigans the girl is dragging him into.

[gold_drum]

Gold's smile twitches a little when she latches onto Banyan. He won't be jealous, he won't be angry, even if he wants to. But he can tell Blaze's being playful, and he does like that. So he takes a breath... then joins in in his own way.

"Yeah, Blaze, what in blazes are you saying?" he says, making his best puppy eyes look, drawing his fists to his chest in an cutesy pose. "The Professor told me I'd be the next wielder of the Sacred Shades of Shi-Sah! And the Strawhat of Sun, and the Labcoat of... uh, I dunno, something cool." After dropping the act for a moment, he turns an exaggerated betrayed look at Banyan. "Was it all a lie, Professor?!"

Obviously it's all a lie.

[ulternprofessor]

"Huh!? Oh...oh no, how could I've forgotten such an important promise?" Banyan spoke, clearly playing. He'll glance over to Blaze who lifted her gaze to meet Banyan's. She's grinning wide like a mischievous Meowth.

"I cannot let you involve Uncle Beni! He's innocent! I will take the stand." Blaze dramatically rose up from her seat. She then reached up to place her hand onto the shades. For a brief moment it seemed as if she was about to pull it off, but really she just wanted to push the shades up. "Haha! But as a Lady, I've gotta keep my secrets. Sorry Goldy!"

Banyan chuckled, as if expecting that response from her.

"But it was nice seeing you up close, hee hee." She placed her gloved hand up to her mouth. "I was hoping to get a look at lil' Lio too since I haven't met him yet either."

[gold_drum]

"Exactly! The PROMISE," Gold says, channeling that one Kanto dialect from back home where people would emphasize words like that.

"Oh? If Professor Banyan is innocent, then you admit your guilt?" Gold says, raising an eyebrow. "I rest my case, your honor," he says, bowing to Banyan.

"Boo," he says, disappointed, when Blaze fails to take the shades off. He then sighs, dropping the act. "Oh, whatever. It's probably nothing. I don't care." He cares. He'll be waiting for a good moment to try and snatch the shades.

Then he realizes he was just called 'Goldy'. Huh. Well, as far as nicknames go, that's pretty normal, so whatever. He won't protest.

"Lio?" Gold asks. "Oh, you mean Elio?" The fact that he gives a natural smile as he talks is a pretty big recent change that's probably apparent to Banyan. "Yeah, I saw him in the crowd somewhere, but I didn't talk to him. He's probably around somewhere."

[ulternprofessor]

"That's right, that's right. You better respect a Lady's wishes." Blaze nodded to herself while trying to not look so triumphant (and failing, as she's placing her hands onto her hips and looking up proudly).

"Oho?" Blaze turned to face Gold. "So you guys already know each other, huuuh?"

"They've met once before." Banyan offered helpfully. He's smiling too, taking note of Gold's expression. This causes Blaze to cross her arms, studying Gold from behind the shades.

"Whaaat? And I still missed out on seeing either of you until now? I have horrible timing." There's a dramatic sigh from Blaze. "In any case, Goldy! I got a question for you."

[gold_drum]

"I won't!" Gold replies to that with a grin. He's not sure what wishes he's supposed to respect, anyway.

He's kind of glad he hasn't met Blaze until now. If she'd asked him about Elio before they'd made up, that probably would've turned out awful. He's still not sure what to think of her, anyway. She seems funny, but Gold can't help but be wary of strong-willed girls slightly older than him.

"What's the question, Blazy?" he asks with a smile.

[ulternprofessor]

"We~llll~~." Blaze clasped her hands together. Gold obviously can't see because of the shades but her eyes are sparkling. "What's your phone number? Do you have a Pippi or Mimmeo account? It can get sooo boring you know? It'd be nice to have someone around the same age to talk to!"

"Blaze, how about ya slow down a bit there?' Banyan chuckled.

"I guuuess," Blaze pouted but she's back to smiling wide. "Oh, one more thing! So...are you participating in the Pokemon League here?"

[gold_drum]

"I dunno what those are," say Gold, who's never heard of 'social media' in his life, taking out an old Pokegear model that can only store ten numbers. "But I can give you my phone number I guess." He says nothing about saving her number in return, though. "How old are you anyway?"

He's grateful to Banyan for telling her to slow down! However, Gold will show no weakness in front of a new acquaintance. (Potential enemy? Ally? Jury's still out on that.)

"Uh, I guess? I'll challenge whatever Gym Leaders I'll meet, so, sure." Gold shrugs. The local Gym Leader hasn't been around any time he's checked the Gym so far, so he's kind of stopped visiting it.

[ulternprofessor]

"Whaaat, really?!" She sighed, dramatically hanging her head. "Bummer..."

But once Gold agreed to give out his number, Blaze looked up. Her eyes lit up when seeing the Pokegear Gold had in hand.

"Ohh! I know what that is! A Pokegear! That's so cool! I really, really wanted one back home!" She's clasping her hands together. "I wish they had something as rad looking here too."

At Gold's next question, Blaze made sure to reel herself back, grinning wide.

"Heh heh, I'm 13! How old are you?" She's tilting her head curiously. At his comment on challenging whatever Gym Leader, Blaze crossed her arms frowning. "Were you able to meet Tobi?"

Her last question had Banyan react too. His expression became neutral as he watched Blaze silently.

[gold_drum]

"Huh, they don't have Pokegears here?" Gold asks, surprised. "I heard a bunch of different technology stuff drifts here. Maybe you're looking in the wrong places."

He goes through the motions of giving Blaze his phone number while talking.

"I'm ten," Gold replies. "Wow, you're like, way older than me." Almost a whole third of Gold's life older.

Gold doesn't miss Banyan's reaction, but doesn't know how to read it. So he keeps his eyes on Banyan as he answers the question.

"No, I haven't met him. Why?"