Pokemon Gates To Infinity The Novel Series 2

Episode 4 Round 1 Of The League

Goodshow finished giving his speech to the 200 trainers that were all gathered there, once it was over the gang decided to head back to the Pokemon Center just to hang out and wait until it was time.

"So Ash, do you know the schedule?" Brock asked him.

Ash nodded, "First things first, every trainer here has to go through the Preliminary rounds first, there are a total of four preliminary rounds, Grass, Water, Ice, and Rock. The nice lady had me go through a random selection, and it landed on the Water Field later in the day against a trainer by the name of Mandi."

"Have you gotten to meet your opponent yet?" Misty asked.

He shook his head, "No, I haven't yet, what about you Ritchie?"

"I'm being sent to the Grass field." Ritchie reveals.

"And I'm not sure about Pat, he could either be sent to the Ice or Rock field." Ash was curious to know.

"I feel bad for anyone that has to go up against Pat, or you." Ritchie comments.

Ash chuckles at him, "Give yourself some credit, Ritchie. You've been training for this just like I have, and I'm confident you'll do well in the preliminary rounds."

Ritchie grins at his Friend, "You're right, let's do this, Ash!"

Molly and Tomo both give him hugs, "You'll beat them all, big brother." Molly tells him.

Ash hugs them both with a smile of his own, "Thank you." He lets them go and fist bumps with Ritchie, "No holding back."

"No holding back." Ritchie promises.

Ash departs along with Pikachu to his waiting room. Once there, he simply sits there with his eyes closed, thinking about all of his pokemon, and how hard they trained to get this far not just for him, but for themselves, too.

"Pika, pikapi (You okay, Ash)?" Pikachu looks up at Ash.

The boy opens his eyes, smiling down at his best friend, "I'm okay, we've all been waiting for this, are you ready?"

"Pika (You bet)!" Pikachu pumps his fist up in the air.

There was a knock on the door as someone opens it, "Ash Ketchum? They're ready for you."

Ash smiles at the man, "Okay, thank you." He stands up, looking down at Pikachu, "Time for the Match begin, Pikachu."

"Pikachu (We'll blow them away)!" Pikachu vows.

On the Water Field

Welcome everyone to the Indigo League's Preliminary rounds! We have an impressive line up of trainers here, let's get this started, shall we?! In the Blue corner is the trainer with loyal fans, and a master of tricks—Mandi!"

From the blue side, out came a young man with long green hair, a red headband across his forehead, purple eyes, wearing a yellow scarf around his neck, a white shirt with a pink jacket, and blue pants. A confident smirk was plastered all over his face as he makes a flock of Piaget come out of nowhere, making his fans go wild.

In the stands, Misty rolls her eyes, "Looks like the Indigo League attracts all kinds of Idiots."

"No kidding." Brock said.

"In the Red corner is Mandi's challenger, and the one that ran with the Torch—Ash Ketchum!"

Ash came out onto the field and was surprised by the cheers, but smiled and waved politely to the crowd anyway as he takes his place, facing Mandi.

"Hmmm..." Mandi says as he observes Ash, "Looks like this will be an easy victory."

Ash wasn't offended, instead he just chuckles at Mandi like he just told him a really good joke.