PokèDruids [PkmnWattys2016]

Tournament, Pt 2

Day two of the tournament was much more interesting now that some actual competition would be taking place, a challenge that would leave little more to be wanted from the eight remaining Druids. Eros returned to the plaza the next morning to find nine Druids and their stones, one of which was a fake; Unfortunately for the cheater who decided to make their own rock, Eros doodled a particular smiley face on the back of the rocks, easily distinguishing the fake from the rest. In response, Eros decided to do what Cerci recommended earlier and put him in a pillory (which was oddly built into the fort) for an hour.

Eros was still quite happy from training with Dusk the other day, so he was more than delighted to stay about for the next round, one the instructors agreed to allow all their student to skip class for: A Pokemon battle tournament; That is, with the twist of allowing Druidic powers. While everybody both competing and spectating were rather ecstatic about this round, a small handful of people questioned what the last round could possibly be. None the less, for dramatic suspense, that detail will be held until later.

Eros was more than happy to oversee the first few rounds alongside his instructors, each and every one ready to referee the fights between the Druids. Most would begin with one Druid sending out another Pokemon against another, battling it out like any normal Pokemon trainer would; However, due to the cunning of one of the Druids, they just happened to find their Pokemon with paranormal assistance, something that the overseers made an effort to actually encourage. On top of that, most of the Druids ended up sending themselves out with their Pokemon, something that each and every goddamn sappy creature out there got moved to tears by.

Of course, eight contestants paired together meant four matches, of which lasted a total of two hours, including cleanup and recovering from the damage, which Sicily assisted in as if it were her profession at the academy. It was a very brief second round compared to the first one, leaving the crowd excited yet begging for more, something Eros didn't mind too much. After all, as Hank said, always leave the crowd begging for more... Wrapping up was quick, as all Eros had to do was instruct the last four contestants to return to the plaza tomorrow morning. Of course, he'd need to make the call now to-

"Uh, headmaster?" One of the instructors on the catwalk beside Eros spoke to him. "You're needed outside."

Eros raised a single brow. "What? Why?"

"An angry Feraligatr said he wanted to talk to you. He-"

Eros interrupted, knowing that there could only be one Feraligatr that would know him. "Ooohhh... I know this guy. Yeah, that can't be good..."

"You know him?"

"Yeah- Was he with an Eevee named Alice?"

"Not that I'm aware."

"...Fine, I'll deal with him." What could be possible be doing here? "Where was he?"

"A bit away from the gates. Watch out, Feraligatrs have strong jaws."

"I... Thank you. Did he say anything?"

"Nothing besides that he wanted to see you." Considering that, there wasn't much else that could be done to prepare for whatever he wanted; Of course, Eros was still somewhat worried about this sort of 'meeting' Feraligatr was looking for. He took his time assembling Xerxes and Dusk, as Sicily was busy tending to the wounded, despite her overprotective nature. With his two Pokemon at his side, he hopped over the front of the fort and led the other two forwards a short distance before searching around for his 'friend'.

Eros found the Feraligatr with little trouble, since the hulking beast was hard to miss. He stood in a small clearing of branches with a wretched frown upon his face that didn't match the blank expression in his eyes, likely since he wasn't spotted yet. Eros approached and found the unemotional eyes drifted to him, leaving the rest of the face intact and indifferent from before. The mysterious creature was quick to recognize him and speak, naming each of the familiar companions, "Sandshrew-human. Xerxes. And... Ghost?"