Ash stood outside the building that was hosting the final round, the decider to the tournament. The suns light cascaded around the smooth marble pillars that sat at the front of the building, reflecting his face like a mirror due to the light. The top of the building represented that of some sort of important city hall, with the triangle at the front just peaking over the roof like the hat on Ash's head. Beyond the pillars and up the few white steps, was the two oak doors, painted in a dark brown that was almost black, with two brass handles sitting on either side symmetrically. 

"Woah.." Ash gasped a sharp breath, his mouth agape as he took in the building. It was something that he had noticed previously, somehow, like a mystery. 

"Pika?" Pikachu cocked his head in question, like the building had always been there. 

"Admiring the structure?" Gary came walking over with a slight grin, mockingly jabbing Ash's arm with his fist. 

"It is amazing..." Serena looked up at the building before them, with Clemont and Miette bringing up the rear. 

"We haven't even seen the inside yet and you are mesmerized...can't wait to get in then" Clemont said with sarcasm. "You will be like children with a new toy" He laughed.        

                                                                                                                                                                                                                "Well, I don't know why they need something this big to compensate for 120+ people and a lottery thing.  I wonder what it will be like actually" Miette commented, with a certain tone of excitement.                                                                                                                                                                                                                          " What are we waiting for?" Ash asked, instantly jumping up the steps as he did so. 

Ash swung the doors open and they slowly creaked open, revealing a large hall that used the whole space of the building. It looked completely barren, save the large table at the back with a large contraption sat on it. The floor was completely solid and wooden, varying in different colours, from brown, light brown and some even looked kind of black. The colours were mismatched but the pattern was still perfect, as to make it look neat and tidy with the different types of wood. Ash counted four..no five, maybe six chandeliers, hooked onto the roof. They hung down like moss on a tree, separating diagonally, into four different lights, illuminating the whole room. 

"Holy sh-" Gary began, but he was cut off by feedback from a microphone, the speakers hanging loosely from the ends of the large table at the end of the room. 

"Come one, come all, participants! Do you think you have the luck to get 1 to 64? Do you KNOW you have what it takes?" The announcer that was at every single event was speaking away on the microphone.

"I think she is into this job a little much, we aren't exactly paying so why is she selling it so much?" Clemont asked, sweatdropping.

"Kind of embarrassing" Miette and Serena said in unison, masking Clemont's reaction.

"Pika..." Pikachu seemed to be riding the sweatdrop train too. 

"Well, I guess I'll go first" Gary stepped forward, his confidence oozing at of him like a Grimer and it's slime. 

Ash noticed at this moment that there was actually no one else in the hall, which made him feel uneasy.

Serena saw his expression. "I guess you have the same weird feeling, huh Ash?"

Ash nodded and Pikachu frowned. "I am just wondering if anyone has already been up there already, or if we are the first here"

"True, because if other people have already snatched up the numbers over 64, we have a higher chance of winning" Clemont nodded, satisfied with those odds.

"Number three, alright!" Gary fist pumped, holding the ball with the number '3' on it. 

"Wow, nice going Gary. Guess today is your lucky day" Miette said, slowly stepping past everyone. "Guess I'll have to get number one and prove my own luck"

"Everyone seems so confident today" Clemont commented, adjusting his glasses slightly.

"You don't seem too confident, Clemont" Serena said, folding her arms as they watched Miette saunter over to the table.

"Nope" Clemont gulped, then laughed a little to shadow his nervousness. 

Miette stopped at the table and then extended her arm to the lever, spinning it around and around. The balls within the machine began to spin, the lever causing four spikes within the round box at the end to spin round at round, catching the numbered balls with each turn and flipping them around, until, one fell out of the compartment and rolled down the ramp towards Miette, who picked it up and studied the number.

"Oh my!" Miette gasped for breath, staring at the ball with shock. 

"What is it?" Ash came rushing over, followed by the others.

They all looked at the ball, that had the number '64' on it.

"I guess that is luckier than the number one" Clemont hiccuped nervously, covering his mouth.

"Well done!" Serena said happily, then looking at the machine. "I need to go next"

"Why?" Ash said. "Are you just 'feeling the luck'?" 

Serena glanced him a look that said It's my turn.

"Ok, ok!" Ash laughed nervously, backing off a little. "Serena looked kind of scary there, maybe she is feeling really lucky" 

"Well, after what happened today, or last night, we all need some luck" Clemont sighed a little.

"What happened?" Ash said, confused.

"Wait, what?" Miette, who was still watching Serena, aimed her question at Ash.

"You didn't have a nightmare with your greatest fear?" Gary asked Ash, who just scrunched up his face, confused by the question. "Take that as a no" 

"So, all of you guys did?" Ash asked, watching as they all nodded in turn.

"We think it was those Team Shadow freaks" Miette shivered at the name.

"I suspect that they have Darkrai, causing some problems" Clemont said with a slight nervousness in his voice. 

Could he get any more nervous? Ash wondered.

"Ok, well that must mean they are planning something, big" Ash emphasised the 'big' with his arms, spreading them out wide to give everyone the bigger picture. 

"Whatever it is, we better stay on alert" Gary, who hadn't said much, warned the others. 

Everyone nodded, understanding the situation. Ash wondered where the others where, and as if he conjured them up, the rest of the gang came through the door.

"Oh, hey guys!" Dawn and May said in unison, turning to each other. "Jinx! Stop copying me! Urgh!" 

"Piplup..." Piplup stared at Dawn, who turned away from May in frustration. 

"Where are the other competitors?" Brock asked, looking around the large room that was pretty much empty, save the gang and the announcer at the table, who was just staring blankly.

"Hey guys, I just got my number!" Serena pushed her arm out, revealing the ball in her hand. The number was '34', meaning she was in. 

"Great, well done!" Iris, who was hanging at the rear of the group, swooped round everyone. "My turn!"

"Who else has made it through, you, Ash?" Cilan asked, nodding his head at Ash in question.

"Nope, haven't had the chance yet. Gary got three and Miette got sixty-four, but that's it so far.

"Woah, that's some luck Miette" Dawn said with a little smile. "I wonder who has got the first number"

"That reminds me" Clemont said, lifting his finger up, one minute, his gesture said. He headed over to the table, behind Iris. Clemont came back a moment later, with a puzzling expression. "I don't know if we should be cautious or just normal about this, but the announcer said we are the first to come in"

"What?" Almost everyone said in unison, May and Dawn glancing each other a look, but they didn't challenge each other this time.

"Wait, the building has been open for..." Cilan checked his watch for a second. "Three hours.."

"We have been here for about ten minutes" Ash added, scratching his chin.

"So, that means in the two hours and fifty minutes it has been open, no one else has showed up?" Brock expounded, with a returning nod from Clemont to confirm the answer.

"Weird" May and Dawn said at the same time. They didn't look at each other this time, but both huffed simultaneously.

"Piplup..." Piplup said once more.

"Do you girls have an obsession with speaking in unison today?" Iris asked, walking up to the group. 

"They been like this all day?" Ash wondered, to no one in particular. 

"Literally" Iris barked out a little laugh. 

"Someone has problems" Gary commented with a smirk. "So, what number you got Iris? You sound happy so it must be good"

"Oh that, I got this" Iris held up her ball, with '45' on it. 

"Great, lets hope this luck can continue!" May and Dawn continued their unison talk, like a telepathic link.

"They actually can't stop" Ash shook his head, while Gary keeled over with laughter, wiping the tears from his eyes.

"Why is he laughing at us?" Dawn and May asked, looking at Gary on the floor.

Gary straightened up and took a deep breath. "I can't get use to their 'talking in unison' complex!" 

"Hmmph" They both huffed, Dawn folding her arms and May placing them on her hips. 

"So, who is next?" Ash asked everyone in the room, looking around at their faces. 

"Sorry to break up your lil' shindig, but we have already decided the next round" Parker, with a huge casual grin across his face came walking through the door, followed by his friends, who wore the same grin. 

"What do you mean?" Ash asked, acting neutral.

"Well, I mean what I just said, don't you understand?" Parker spread his arms out, with a face that mocked Ash, saying you're such an idiot. 

 "What he is trying to say, is we are going to decide who goes through" Jeremy shifted his glasses and looked straight at Ash. "So, we would like your numbers please"

"Ha! Bite me" Iris said, folding her arms. 

"Now, now, I will disqualify you all if fighting breaks out here!" The announcer came bounding over, her shrill, monotonous voice echoing through the hall. She didn't understand what was going on but could feel the tension rising.

"Darkrai..." Parker said, making Ash and co stop and stare. 

Darkrai appeared like it was always hovering next to Parker, it's shadowy body causing everyone to have a ominous feeling. Umbreon also stood by Parker's side, it's blue and black body shifting around, anticipating a command. 

"So, what you plan on doing is putting us all to sleep, Darkrai will give us a creepy nightmare and then you take the balls and rig the system?" Cilan asked, with a sort of chuckle. 

"You can't stop us" Elizabeth scowled back at Cilan, who let a small smile creep over his face.

The whole of Team Shadow stepped back, freaked out by Cilan's reaction. 

"For some reason, I am relishing this challenge" A pokeball was already in Cilan's hand, like it had always been there. 

"Umbreon, hypnosis on that lowly human!" Parker pointed at Cilan, who stood and stared.

"Sylveon, protect!" Serena yelled, as the illuminating light from Sylveon's pokeball dissipated.

Before Sylveon could even been seen, the blue shield appeared around  Sylveon, completely blocking off any effects. 

"Darkrai, use dark pulse!" Parker pointed to no one in particular. 

Darkrai created a dark orb and then hauled it down onto the group, who scattered in different directions to avoid the attack.

"Ok, you are all dis-" The announcer began, but the dark pulse exploded around her. She was sent ten feet across the room, landing by the table.

"She won't be waking up any time soon..." Parker shrugged. "She won't remember what happened here and we will stop you from winning the tournament"

"That's where you're wrong" Ash snapped back in annoyance. "You can't play God and decide who goes where, you are just like every evil person in this world. You just want to stop anyone that threatens you in a competition, cheating your way into the front seat"

"Very philosophical, but no matter, we will do as we wish" Parker shrugged once more and then threw his hand forward. "Umbreon, hypnosis"

"Sylveon protect!" Serena was ready this time. 

The same thing happened again, a complete stalemate. 

"Is that all Umbreon can do?" Ash mocked. Pikachu sat by his side, ready and waiting. 

But, Ash threw out a pokeball instead. "Snivy, lets go!"

"Vy!" Snivy folded its arms with absolute confidence, staring across to Umbreon. 

"Did you forget I have two Pokemon here?" Parker grinned as Darkrai appeared, flanking Ash. 

"Dark pulse, Darkrai!" Parker shouted.

Darkrai conjured up another dark orb of energy, shooting it down at Ash, Serena, Sylveon, Snivy and Pikachu. 

"Sylveon, protect us!" Serena screamed out in worry.

"Sylveon!" Sylveon replied, putting everything into her next protect. Sylveon's face strained as the dark pulse continued to pressure her shield, then it broke and the dark pulse exploded at the same time. 

Everything happened at once, Ash grabbed Serena and spun her onto the floor, acting as a protective barrier on top of her. Pikachu leaped back out of harms way, Snivy catching Sylveon with a vine and moving from the explosion. 

As the dust cleared, Serena noticed she was fine, but saw Ash's shadow looming over her. She then realized he was on top of her and the colour drained from her face, being replaced with the colour of a tomato.

"Ash?" Serena asked, half worried and half like WHAT ARE YOU DOING ON ME?! 

Ash strained as he lifted his head up. "You're ok..." He said, before wincing a little. Serena moved and allowed Ash to lie down, but not before noticing the small burn mark on his back, his jacket ripped open. The dark pulse had got him good. 

"Ash, are you ok?!" She instantly began to worry, but Ash got up and smiled.

"Never felt better" He lied. 

Ash took a small glance over to the other side of the room, where a battle between Cilan, Brock, Clemont and Gary vs the other members of Team Shadow ensued. 

Ash held out his hand to Serena. "Lets stop this mess from continuing so we can all pick our numbers"

Serena took it, with a little blush and then nodded with determination.

"Ahem! I am sorry to break up your little moment, but we are done here" Parker said, straightening up.

"What happened to stopping us from getting the numbers we need?" Ash asked Parker, who just shrugged again in reply.

"We have new orders and besides..." He took a ball out of his pocket, with the number '1' on it. "We got our numbers"

The other members backed outside and then they all disappeared as the doors closed. Parker followed, Darkrai and Umbreon in tow. 

Ash looked at the scene as a result of the small amount of action that had just occurred. The wooden flooring was covered in scrapes, some of it cracked. The chandeliers continued to shake, due to the explosions previously. He then wondered how they managed to snag their own numbers during the whole confrontation. 

"How did they get their own numbers?" Serena asked out loud, asking the unspoken question.

"It is so freaky, how sneaky they are I mean" Miette said with a shake of her head.

The announcer got up, with a small shake of her head. "What happened?" 

Cilan shot everyone a look, he didn't need to speak and they all understood. He had this under control. 

"Erm, some of us just got here so we don't know, some thugs just tried to come in and mess everything up, you was asleep this whole time" Cilan explained, with a straight face.

"I fell asleep? Oh dear I am so sorry!" The announcer apologized and then returned to her table. "Looks like quite a few people have already gotten through, no one has picked a number above sixty-four yet" 

That was about to change as over a hundred people began to pile in simultaneously, leaving Ash and co in the dust.

"Crap, we need to get in line!" Brock shouted to the others, or the ones that hadn't picked anything yet.

Everyone was taken back by the sudden entrance of the rest of the competitors and sprinted into the line, pushing through the ones who hadn't gotten in line yet, trying to get a respectful position.

There was lots of load noise and some cheers and jeers as people went up, one by one and acquired their numbers.

"Alright! I got through" Someone said. 

"What, 65! Come on!" Another moaned.

Some people left with tears in their eyes. They was looking forward to the final 64 and it was crushed by a number on a ball. It made people upset and the ones with luck continued with happiness. 

Then, it was Ash's turn. 

"Pikachu, you do the honours" Ash said to his buddy, who hadn't really said much.                                He had been very observant when Parker arrived however, preparing himself for next time. 

Pikachu used his small arms and hands to turn the lever around and around.

"Pika pika pika!" He chanted with each turn, possibly trying to bring Ash some luck. 

The ball came rolling down and Ash held his breath, the tension rising up from his stomach and up his throat as he exhaled, looking at the number. 

"63, YES!" He almost shouted, jumping up with the ball in his hands.

"Congratulations!" The announcer said, writing his name in the '63' slot on the paper. 

"I just-" Ash began, but Gary held up his hand.

"We know, we could hear you from miles away" He said with a grin.

"I wasn't THAT loud, right?" Ash asked the others who had already gotten there numbers.

"Sure" Iris said simply. 

The rest of the gang slowly came back with the same luck, their numbers being in the one to sixty-four range. 

May and Dawn came walking up last, with matching grins.

"I got 49-- 20!" They said in unison, but their numbers being different.

"Woah, that was the first thing they have said that wasn't the same!" Iris said with shock.

The girls giggled and then done a mock forehead wipe. "Thank god" They said in unison.

Iris sighed, causing Gary to set off again, howling with laughter. 

Misty, who had said nothing besides announcing her number, kicked Gary in his side. 

Gary, who was crouched down, slowly tumbled onto the floor, but he continued to laugh, ignoring Misty's actions.

"Urgh, just shut up!" She groaned, flopping into her seat again.

Ash watched the group and smiled, before staring at his ball once more.

"Looks like we are all going through" Ash said with a grin. He wasn't aware of what was going to happen next.

Ash was going to have to bring his A-game, or no game.