Ultra Aether

The Opening Ceremony

That afternoon, the group headed to the center of Hau'oli city, where the Alola League was being held. It took them a while to get there since the streets were crowded with countless trainers who had registered for the League. Everyone wanted a shot at becoming the first champion of Alola.

When the group finally made it to the building where the League was being held, it was truly a sight to behold.

"Whoa!" Mallow gasped.

"It's huge!" Sophocles exclaimed.

"Amazing..." Lana murmured in awe.

The building was a colossal metal dome with an open roof. The gleaming silver walls tastefully were accented with swirling emerald green. As they approached the entrance, Ash's eyes fell upon the yellow, pink, red, and blue widely spaced pillars circling the building.

Resting on the very top of the four pillars nearest to the entrance were marble statues of all four island guardians- Tapu Koko, Tapu Lele, Tapu Bulu, And Tapu Fini. They were so carefully carved and lifelike that Ash almost felt like they were the real guardian deities, staring down at him from above.

Once inside the domed building, Ash and his friends came to a stop in some sort of lobby, with a shiny green tile floor and information desks on either side.

There were two signs fixed to the back wall pointing in opposite directions. The one pointing to the left read, "Spectators." The one pointing to the right read, "Competing Trainers." Standing out of place in the middle of the lobby were two security guards and a well-dressed woman who seemed to be waiting for someone.

Ash veered off towards the "Competing Trainers" hallway. "See you later!" He called to his friends.

"Pika Pika!" Pikachu exclaimed.

"Good luck!" Everyone else yelled and quickly ran off into the "Spectators" hallway. None of them noticed Serena approach the strange woman.

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After reaching the end of the hallway, Ash was escorted into a huge hexagonal room crowded with Trainers. An enormous screen was embedded into five of the six walls, while the farthest wall bore a pair of large double doors. There were rows of seats along the edges of the room, but they were already full.

Wow, he thought. There are a lot of people here.

He wondered how many of these Trainers he would be able to fight.

"Attention Trainers!" A voice called. Ash turned towards where the voice came from and saw a sharply dressed announcer across the room, standing next to one of the screens.

The announcer gave each of them a bright grin. "Welcome, Trainers, to the first-ever Alola League!" The room burst into applause and cheers, which Ash enthusiastically joined in on. "For the first battle, each one of you has been randomly paired up with an opponent," the announcer continued, gesturing towards the room's six screens. They blazed to life, showing pairs of photos of every trainer. Ash swallowed as he spotted his photo at the very top of the list. His opponent was a friendly-looking boy with tanned skin and dark green hair tied up in a ponytail, wearing a black shirt with a white collar and bearing a slight resemblance to the Kahuna of Melemele Island, Hala.

Ash spotted a movement out of the corner of his eyes. He looked towards where it came from, and saw his opponent at the other end of the room, waving at him furiously. Ash waved awkwardly back.

The announcer, after allowing a moment for trainers to find their matchups, continued. "First battle matchup, please make your way to the stadium." The announcer gestured towards the double doors.