"Erm, Brock?" Misty said, not liking the eerie silence that suddenly surrounded them.

"Yeah, I know" Brock was just as cautious. Even though there was 600 participants, there was no one near them. It had only been two minutes since the tournament started.

"Houndoom, flamethrower on Croagunk!"  a voice both didn't know shouted from within the trees. It was Jeremy, from Team Shadow. The fire from Houndoom came flying through the trees and made direct contact with Croagunk, sending it back a few steps. Croagunk stood firmly on the ground and forced the flamethrower away. 

"Who's there?" Misty shouted, instantly spinning around. Her Staryu hovered by her side, waiting for any instructions. 

"Now why ask such a frivolous question, hmm?" Jeremy came walking out, his Houndoom by his side. "This is a game that requires ones full concentration to obtain their opponents tags. It doesn't matter who it is trying to take your tags"

"Spare the lecture, you won't get away with such a cheap attack again!" Brock turned to Croagunk, who prepared to battle.

"I won't need to get away with such tactics, I have my own way of doing things" Jeremy pushed his glasses up proudly. "Now, lets see who wins, me or you"

"Croagunk, use poison jab!" Brock shouted out. Croagunk took in his words and his fist turned purple, covered in poison. Croagunk leaped forward at the Houndoom, who was not even trying to dodge. 

Jeremy sighed and flicked an arm up, not even looking at the battle. "Houndoom, inferno" His Houndoom executed the move perfectly, fire engulfing Croagunk in an instant. Croagunk yelled out, surrounded by the strong flames. As soon as the flames faded, Croagunk had a noticeable red outline across his body. He continued to groan on the floor.

"Oh no! Croagunk!" Brock rushed forward, picking up his Croagunk. "He has been burnt real bad, I need to go to the Pokemon Center"

"Don't worry Brock, I will take this guy down" Misty stepped forward, feeling confident. She had a Staryu, which meant she had the type advantage over Houndoom's fire. 

"Since your Pokemon is hurt, I believe I am entitled to your tags" Jeremy looked inquisitively at Brock, who stared hard back at him. 

"I don't think you are, Croagunk can still fight!" 

"If he can still fight, then you can not go to the Pokemon Center. The rules state that the fight is over once ones Pokemon is unable to battle" Jeremy pointed out, making Brock angry. He set Croagunk down. "Now, we will take out this Staryu and be on our way with your tags"

"WE?" Misty said, slightly confused. She looked at the Houndoom, wondering if he meant his Pokemon.

"Zoroark, night daze!" A female voice shouted from the trees, just like Jeremy did. But, this time, it was from Misty's side and not from behind. A pitch black shockwave rushed through the trees, instantly connecting with Staryu. The impact caused an explosion, making Misty and Brock shield themselves. Once the smoke cleared, Staryu was still standing tall. "Now, Zoroark, use focus blast"

There was a moment of silence, but then the ground started shaking. A bright white light came zooming out of the forest and hit Staryu with such force, it flew straight back into a tree, almost breaking it in half. Staryu then dropped down, fainting. Misty looked on with wide eyes. She had no time to react and was taken out almost instantly. Elizabeth and her Zoroark stepped out of the shadows. Elizabeth grabbed the tag on Staryu and then the one from Misty. Misty didn't even move, she was frozen, staring at her fallen Staryu. 

"Well, if Croagunk can still fight, you won't mind if I finish it off" Elizabeth looked over at Jeremy, who smiled.

"All yours" He took a few steps back, watching Elizabeth. She slowly walked forwards and knelt down next to the Croagunk, who Brock was still treating.

"Just let me make him better, then we will beat you!" Brock pleaded, wanting a fighting chance.

"You already got your chance. I won't waste my time with you, hand over the tags or we will take them by force" Elizabeth's voice was cold, she had no regard for Croagunk's safety, she was just trying to win. Brock hesitated, but knew he would have a better chance if he let them have his tags and then go for other peoples tags instead. Brock handed over the tags and Elizabeth smiled like an excited little girl "Oh my god! Thank you!" 

"Lets get going Elizabeth, we have work to do" Jeremy said, slowly walking off.

"Yes, yes, I am coming" Elizabeth sighed and clicked her fingers, which made Zoroark alert and on the move.

Once they had gone and Brock had finished healing Croagunk's burn, they moved over to Misty. Brock knelt down beside her and put an arm on her shoulder. "It's ok. We will go to the Pokemon Center for Staryu and then get 100 points and come back victorious!"

Misty looked up, her eyes glistening with fresh tears. She wiped them away and forced the rest back, before smiling slightly. Misty then nodded and returned Staryu into its pokeball.

"Lets get going then" They headed off for the Pokemon Center, still feeling confident about their chances.

Meanwhile, in an open field, Dawn was fighting furiously with another trainer.

"Piplup! hydro pump!" Piplup leaped up and shot out a jet of water, spraying it across the Growlithe on the other side of the field. The Growlithe dropped down and was unable to continue. The trainer Dawn fought reluctantly gave up her tags and Dawn moved on. As Dawn continued, she noticed a black and purple Pokemon that looked like an Absol heading her way. There was a trainer by its side, wearing the same colours. "Huh, that Absol looks weird"

Jake muttered something inaudible to Dawn and his Absol began to multiply. Dawn recognized that it was using the move double team and Piplup raised his guard, being cautious. 

"Piplup, hydro pump them all!" Dawn decided to attack every single slow advancing Absol, to get the right one. Piplup jumped up and shot the jet of water across the line of Absol's.

"Absol, protect" Jake replied and Absol instantly created a shield around itself. The other Absol's disappeared, but the original was unaffected by the attacks. "Now, lets see your hyper beam at full power!" Absol stopped walking and held its paws firmly on the ground, steadying itself. Then, as Absol opened up its mouth, a large purple sphere grew and grew, until it was charged up fully. Then, Absol unleashed the hyper beam with maximum power and speed. Dawn couldn't even shout for Piplup, her words were blocked out by the explosive impact as Absol sent Piplup flying back. Piplup done several flips, being left in the dirt. It was clear Piplup wasn't getting up anytime soon.

Suddenly, before Jake could move for the tags, a solar beam came flying across the field, striking Absol in its side. Absol was surprised, but its power allowed it to withstand the attack without moving much. 

"Who dares attack a member of Team Shadow from behind?" Jake said in frustration, turning around. 

Cilan clicked his fingers and had a big smile on his face. Pansage shared the same expression, but looked ready to fight. "It is ironic, really. I attacked a member of Team Shadow from the shadows"

An alarm sounded, indicated that ten minutes had passed since the tournament had began. Somewhere else in the arena, Ash was aimlessly wondering around with his Pikachu. Both still had red eyes, indicating they was still under some kind of control. Then, Ash spotted a trainer wandering around with another Pikachu. This Pikachu noticed Ash and his Pikachu and wanted to fight another of his kind. This trainer smirked and got ready to fight.

"You and your Pikachu look really weak, I mean you are slouching!" This trainer laughed at Ash, who in returned a look that was devoid of life. Ash's mouth twitched into a grin and it was like something out of a horror movie. 

"Hahahaha! You will give me your tags! Pikachu, thunderbolt! Hahaha!" Ash continued to stare at the trainer, who was now frozen in shock. He had become scared because of Ash, but he couldn't run. His Pikachu was ready to take the thunderbolt, because it was also an electric Pokemon. Ash's Pikachu jumped up and charged up the electric within his body.

"PIKAAAAAAAAAAA-CHUUUUUUU!" Pikachu shot the thunderbolt across the ground. It rushed towards the other Pikachu and hit it dead on. The control Pikachu and Ash was under gave Pikachu his locked potential, increasing his power almost ten times over. The thunderbolt was not meant to affect another Pikachu, but the other trainer watched in shock as his Pikachu screamed out and then the explosion sent it back. His Pikachu was defeated in one move by another electric type Pokemon, which completely shocked the trainer. 

"Hahahaaa! Now, your tags pleeeeaasee!" Ash walked forward, Pikachu jumping onto his shoulder.

The trainer he had just defeated so easily was shaking. He dropped his tag and fell backwards. "H-ho-, bu-, wh-?"

Ash walked past, letting Pikachu pick up the tags. He collected the trainer's and then the Pokemon's tag aswell, before walking away to find more opponents. What the trainer saw shocked him even more. Ash already had a pocket full of tags, probably worth around 300 points. Why was he still attacking people and collecting even more if he already had so many points?

While Ash was aimlessly wandering around, collecting tags for fun, Cilan was facing of with Jake. There was a tense amount of silence as Pansage and Absol continued to size eachother up, circling around and around. 

"You know, Dawn is my friend and I will do everything to ensure that no one takes their tags. Instead, I will take yours!" Cilan pointed at Jake. "Lets battle!"

"I don't battle weak Pokemon, I destroy them" Jake retorted, scowling at Cilan. He then decided to ignore Cilan, but a bullet seed stopped him in his tracks.

"Your Absol is very obedient, a true teamwork recipe" Jake looked really strangely at Cilan, like he was speaking in another language. "It's evaluating time!"

Before another word could be spoken, there was a large THUD! as Tristan and his Absol appeared from behind.

"Let us take out this wretched fool, Jake" Cilan turned around and realized Tristan looked exactly like Jake. 

THEN! Another person appeared behind Tristan. They had an Umbreon, but it wasn't Parker. Their mahogany spiked hair flowed in the wind, their arms folded across their black shirt. Gary stood with a smirk on his face, looking over Tristan's shoulder. "Does a friend of Ash's need some help?"

Cilan didn't say anything, it was pretty much a rhetorical question. Tristan turned around in anger, hearing the name Ash.

"Lets do this Umbreon!"