Chapter 12: The First Round

The morning of Dave's next day at the lab began with anxiety. The Cardo rookie competition kicked off today. Since Professor Noah was the one who sponsored the tournament, the fights would take place at the lab, but Dave wasn't sure where.

The professor refused to say or show where the competition would take place. He said it wouldn't be fair to the other trainers otherwise.

As usual, breakfast was fantastic. Dave loaded up on food in order so he would be at his best later. Mindy was there too, with her mother. They would spend these next few days watching the tournament.

"Hey, can someone tell me how many games I have to win this tournament?" Dave asked after putting down his fork for a moment.

Susan, Mindy's mother, answered, "You have to win three rounds to win, Dave, and you can only use one Pokemon."

"Only one Pokemon? But why?" Dave asked as he picked up his fork and began filling his mouth again.

"This tournament is for beginners and the vast majority of trainers don't have more than one Pokemon," Professor Noah put in.

Dave gave a nod of understanding and started to think. Which Pokemon should he use? He looked at Eevee and swallowed the last bite of his omelette.

"What do you think, Eevee? Do you want to fight in the tournament?"

"Ee—vee!" The fox pokemon nodded its head with a determined face.

"Alright! Let's win this!"

Dave and Mindy spent the rest of the morning talking about the competition. About an hour later, he could already see some activity outside the home. An enormous crowd showed up to both watch and take part in the event.

Mindy explained to Dave that she had watched these competitions before and that there was always one or two trainers that were quite strong.

"Mindy, can you tell me where the tournament is going to be held? Your grandfather told me it's right here in the lab, but I did not see any rings being built at all," Dave asked.

"That's a secret," Mindy said teasingly.

Dave simply stared at her. He wasn't in the mood to joke around right now.

"Alright, alright," Mindy stopped giggling. "I'll show you where it is. Follow me."

They entered the lab and went through a series of doors until they eventually reached a long corridor that Dave had never noticed before. There were no other doors in the corridor save for at the end.

They kept on walking until Mindy stopped halfway there.

"It's over there," she said, pointing to the door. Now that they were closer, Dave could see that it was no door, but an elevator.

"Are you not going to come in?" Dave asked.

"No. This is the entrance to the trainers area. I'll have to go from another entrance," Mindy said, turning around and going back down the hallway.

"Okay then," Dave said, taking a deep breath and turning towards the elevator. Just then he remembered an important detail.

"Hey Mindy, what button do I press in the elevator?"

Mindy was walking out of the hall when she heard Dave calling her. She turned to him and said, "Even you can figure that out, genius. Good luck!"

And with that, she disappeared.

Turning around, Dave saw that the only option was down, so he called for the elevator. Entering the lift, he saw that the only button he could press was the basement.

After pressing it, the elevator quickly began to descend. They way down went longer than Dave had expected and Eevee was starting to get restless.

"Relax, Eevee," he soothed his partner's nerves.

Finally the elevator stopped. When Dave stepped out, he saw a small room with a few sofas that was being occupied by a few trainers.

Some were engaged in a small talk, while others nervously pacing back and forth. None of them had their Pokemon out.

Dave immediately realised that he was already at a disadvantage, as Eevee was not in the pokeball. Thus, everyone could see which pokemon he was going to use.

Upon entering the room, he first looked for a television showing the ongoing battle, but there was none in the room. When he asked a trainer, he said that the participants were not allowed to watch the match.

'Great,' Dave thought. It appeared his plan to find the opponent's weakness had fallen down the drain.

The trainer he had spoken with also advised him to get his number. The number he got would determine which turn he would fight. He went to the machine and pulled out the number 8. It seemed it was going to be a while before his match.

He sat on a chair and petted his Eevee. His mind was a complete mess, and his heart was pounding. After waiting a short while, the first numbers were called. Two trainers stood up and made their way to an elevator door on the other side of the room.

Dave was too nervous to pay attention to what was going on around him. With each passing minute his heart seemed to beat faster. The room began to thin out as the next set of trainers were called.

The restless Eevee jumped out of Dave's arms and started pacing. He followed him with his gaze, but nervousness kept him in the chair. The next pair was called. Now only Dave and another trainer were alone in the room.

Time seemed to stop after that. Dave didn't want to stare at his opponent and so he closed his eyes. Hours seemed to pass while Dave tried to distract himself.

He didn't want to think about the fight, but that wait was making him very nervous. At long last, his number was called.

"Trainer number seven and eight, please report to the ring."

Dave and the other trainer took a moment to absorb that. They breathed deeply and stood up after that. They both stopped at the elevator, looked at each other, and wished each other good luck.

The first thing Dave noticed after walking out of the elevator was the ring in the centre. It was a simple field with no special terrain.

They were deep underground, but the arena was very well lit. The grandstand that surrounded the arena was also quite large, and it didn't seem to be completely crowded, despite the good number of people who were watching.

Dave noticed that Professor Noah and his granddaughter were watching from a special booth at the top of the bleachers. To Dave's surprise, Mindy's mother was the referee.

"Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome Tony Davis, trainer number 7, and Dave Mick, trainer number 8," announced Professor Noah's voice over the sound system, followed by the applause from the audience.

"They will be the last competitors of the day. The winner will advance to the semifinals tomorrow."

"This will be a one on one battle. The first one to lose will be eliminated from the competition," the professor started to explain the rules to them.

"The winner will advance to the next stage and have to use the same Pokemon in today's fight. Are both trainers in agreement?"

"Yes!" the two trainers replied.

'I'm going to win this fight. Nothing is going to stop me from becoming the champion.' Dave's nervousness was starting to turn into confidence as he looked at his opponent across the field.

"The match starts now!" Susan waved her flag.

"Let's do this Eevee!" Dave shouted and Eevee jumped into the ring.

"Go Spearow!" said Tony, releasing his Pokemon from the pokeball.

The professor's commentary was heard through the speakers. "Dave chose his Eevee while Tony went with a Spearow. Let's see if Eevee can catch Tony's flying-type Pokemon."

'A flying-type Pokemon, huh? Looks like I'll have to find a way to bring it down from the sky,' Dave thought.

"Spearow, use Peck!" said Tony, and Spearow dived at high speed.

"Eevee, wait until it gets closer to you," Dave yelled.

Eevee obeyed and stood still waiting for the Spearow.

"Now!" However, Eevee jumped to the side a little too soon. Before he could follow up with a Tackle, the Spearow was already out of his reach.

"Spearow, continue the attack!" Tony ordered. "Make sure to be careful of its counterattack.

"Spearow continues with its assault. However, Eevee managed to dodge all of its attacks so far," Professor Noah commented. "None of them are succeeding. Let's see which side will break this deadlock first."

'Eevee can dodge this Spearow all day long. But eventually that Spearow will get tired,' Dave thought.

"Eevee, good job, keep it up!" Dave shouted.

Tony looked apprehensive, he didn't expect Dave's Eevee to be so fast. "Spearow, try a Quick Attack!"

Spearow gained as much altitude as it could before entering an extremely fast dive towards Eevee.

"Looks like Tony decided to pick up the pace. Spearow comes in with a Quick Attack. What will Dave do?" Professor Noah shouted through the microphone excitedly.

"Eevee, evasive manoeuvre and use Sand Attack!" Dave ordered.

Eevee narrowly dodged Spearow's Quick Attack, eliciting a gasp from the crowd. Spearow, who missed its target, couldn't slow down and crashed onto the ground.

Then Eevee started his Sand Attack, throwing dirt at the opponent who was still a little groggy from the impact.

"Now, Eevee, finish off with a Headbutt!" Dave followed suit.

Eevee picked up speed and, before Spearow could take off again, he hit the pokemon with a powerful headbutt. Spearow was sent flying back to its trainer, where it promptly passed out.

"Spearow is no longer able to battle. The winners are Dave and Eevee!" Susan declared.

"We won, Eevee! We won!" Dave said, running to celebrate his win with his Pokemon.

"Ee—vee!" Eevee also cheered with his trainer.

Meanwhile, Tony stepped forward and picked up his fallen Spearow. "You did great out there, Spearow. You can rest now."

After putting his Spearow back to its pokeball, he stood up and walked over to shake his hand. "Congratulations! You deserve the win."

"Thank you," Dave accepted his handshake. "You also fought well."

With that, they left the arena together amidst the cheers from the audience.

So Dave and Eevee won their first official battle and were now qualified for the next stage of the competition.