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

SPECTATORS

[domeinion]

[Spectators can thread here with each other! Have fun watching the matches, and don't forget the popcorn.]

ROUND 1

[domeinion]

[The first-round battles are on a basic arena. Have fun!]

ROUND 2

[domeinion]

[The second-round battles are on a water arena. Try to stay on the floating platforms!]

ROUND 3

[domeinion]

[The third-round battles are on a desert arena. Watch out for the sand!]

FINAL MATCH

[domeinion]

[The finals are on a rocky arena. Uneven terrain means platforms and places to dodge -- be careful!]

AFTERMATH

[domeinion]

[Any aftermath threads can be played out here! Talk with your opponents and/or spectators, promise to meet each other in the next game, speculate on what this holiday even is.]

[RNG echoing the Unova league is wild]

[serperiority]

Battling a friend in the first round, in which he's eliminated... again? This was some serious deja vu and not the good kind. It's... kind of depressing, actually.

Well, it wass inevitable, too, of course, he hadn't devoted much time to serious training here, more concerned with making a living and learning about this place (hoping to leave), not to mention all of the issues with Gold and Elio. This was just a reminder he was still far from beating Alder sir and needed to get serious about training!!

Unlike in the past, Trip won't leave as soon as he's defeated. He'll join the spectators and cheer on his friend, too! He's just a bit quiet either way, though, so he won't talk to the other spectators unless approached.

[etherealdragon]

Iris is both happy she made it so far and of course, really happy for Ash for winning, but also... still a little crushed by coming this close to victory... just to lose again. Right after she was sent back home and got to see all of those things Ash mentioned, like winning her Champion title and helping his Dragonite (now she understood why that little one was so happy to meet her here!)... and her loss in the tournament at home.

She's cheering for Ash with all her might, loudly, almost like a roar, until the end, even if there's tears in her eyes still at that point.

Afterwards, she's going to be in a bit of a pensive mood...

"What do you think this place is trying to teach us?" she asked.

The question was meant more for her Pokemon, especially Haxorus, but anyone else is free to overhear it and give their own answer.

[red_berry]

Since his battle isn't until the second round, Red spends the first round spectating, silently rooting for Gold and Alice. After Alice's match is over, he'll send her a text complimenting her on the battle and wishing her luck next time.

After his loss on the second round, Red returns to the seats, satisfied with the results. If he has to lose, it's good he lost finding out that the other Red was just as strong as himself. He'll have to fight him again sometime. Now to watch the rest of the matches! And of course, take a lot of photos while he's watching.

Gold vs Juliana

[gold_drum]

Although Gold feels a bit bad after Trip's reaction to losing first round, he's not going to dwell on it. He's going to win that top prize Nugget and he's not pulling any punches!

While waiting for his next opponent - whoever this 'Juliana' is - he'll take out his Pokeballs and give them a pep talk.

"Alright, guys, that gold Nugget's got my name written on it! Let's go! For cash!!" he says. Quiet cheering sounds can be heard echoing from the Pokeballs.

[domeinion]

[Alice gets the text, but she waits until after Red's own match to go find him. She spots him in the stands and heads over there, then sits down and offers out the bag of popcorn she got.]

You did great out there. I told you, we've got a lot of strong trainers, right?

[domeinion]

[You can easily find Alice after, helping to clean up the arena along with a small group of weird Surskit with cannon forelegs, who are picking up litter and debris. She'll wave if she sees you.]

Good turnout, right? How did you think it went?

[And after that's done, she just goes up to the now-empty award platform and clasps her hands underneath the last hanging banner.]

I don't know where you are right now, or who you're helping. But I hope this was good enough for you. It'd be nice to make someone proud.

afterwards

[domeinion]

I don't know.

[Alice is going around the bleachers with a garbage bag and a small army of cannon-legged Surskit who are (somehow) helping pick up the trash. She sits down near Iris when she hears her ask.]

But you believe it's something? A cosmic lesson sending us to Ultern?

[red_berry]

Oh, popcorn! Red takes some and munches on it, then nods in reply.

"...Blast's sthrh- ...strong," he says, fumbling with the surprisingly difficult sentence, and also offering no context to the name.

[etherealdragon]

I think everything is connected and we all have a reason for being here.

Maybe it’s not the same for all of us, but I don’t think we came here by mistake…

[Iris drew a line on the ground with her shoe, then reached into her hair and pulled out an apple (yes, she stores snacks in her hair, there is almost always a chance of baby Dragons too, never mind that—)]

The food we eat was always meant for us, but do you think the seed always knew that when it was growing into the tree that gave us that fruit? Or the farmer who picked it? Or the fruit seller who sold it…?

The people here think of everyone as brothers and sisters when they meet… it isn’t so different from my village. I think everyone’s connected like that, people and Pokemon…

Basically, I think there’s a lesson to be learned from everything.

[Sure, that’s a good speech, but she hasn’t found her answers yet, so she become a bit subdued after that. Maybe she’ll just have to carry on, without knowing where it will take her, too...]

[domeinion]

One of your Pokémon, right?

[She takes some of the popcorn herself and gives a quiet nod.]

You did a good job out there. I'm a little out of practice myself facing higher-level opponents these days. But it's fun, isn't it?

[domeinion]

[Alice laughs a little to herself. The randomized Surskit all clunkily walk over to the two of them, curious.]

I didn't expect I would hear something like that today, that's all. Not in a place like this. Everything is connected in the order of things... You're right, actually. Even when it gets all jumbled, or when something wasn't supposed to happen.

[red_berry]

"? Ah. No." Red starts looking around, trying to find the other Red somewhere in the crowd. When he fails to find him, he just turns to Alice and says "My opponent." The two Reds have nicknames for each other!

He nods to the second statement with a slight smile. It is fun! It's a shame he lost in the first round and all his Pokemon didn't get to battle, but he'll make it up to them some other time.

1/2

[etherealdragon]

Really? [Iris asked, sounding a little amused.] I'll take that as a compliment!

2/2

[etherealdragon]

[She continued, more quietly and thoughtfully, again:]

... hmm, I think even when things go wrong, there's a lesson in it, somewhere...

See, back home, I was in a tournament with Ash, too. We both did pretty well, but I didn't make it to the end. I lost in the first round, Top 8, and Ash went on to the final round.

It's funny how things repeat sometimes... so I think, maybe, there's a lesson I was supposed to learn, but hadn't yet, so the lesson's repeating... I wonder what it's saying.

[domeinion]

Oh! [She brightens.] That makes sense. He is strong. I think you did well too, though. It wouldn't have been nearly as fun if it weren't for everyone who loves to battle. Nor as effective at community engagement!

[domeinion]

I don't know. But I'd like to know, too. I've never wanted to leave things as "that's just how it is." I want to know how it's supposed to be, and why it's supposed to be that way, and work to put the world in order so everyone can benefit.

[She looks up at the sky and smiles.]

Maybe there is something to learn. Maybe it's just that everybody here is really strong, and there's always something we can learn from each other.

[etherealdragon]

Maybe we're not meant to have all the answers, either, but that sounds like a pretty good start. True, too. [Alice's interpretation got a very genuine smile from Iris, her heavy mood lifting.]

Those Pokemon... are they a regional variation? [Iris asked curiously.]

[domeinion]

Not exactly. [She pets one of the Surskit when it bumps against her.] They're randomized, just like the rest of my Pokémon. These are Hyperbug's friends. When I was first starting out as a trainer, I found a colony of Surskit and just kept challenging and catching them because I wanted to study them. That's where I met Hyperbug, too!

[domeinion]

[Alice plops down in a nearby seat between paperwork and healing her team up.]

How did your match go? I didn't get the chance to see...