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The wedding went along nicely. The couple exchanged their vows, using more cutesy nicknames for one another than Charlie thought possible. The suit he was given before leaving for the tournament was making him sweat, not being helped by the lack of any clouds in the sky and a temperature near that of the sun itself.

It wasn’t until the couple started calling for a double battle that he had the opportunity to finally slip away and get some water to drink. The bar nearby was stocked with all kinds of refreshments, but Charlie just wanted something cool, refreshing, and simple.

“Well, you certainly look thirsty.”

Charlie put down the glass of water he had been chugging to see a young, pink-haired girl with a flower in her hair sitting next to him. “Hey, in this weather? I’ll take whatever I can get.”

The girl simply smiled and handed the bartender an empty wine glass. “Fill me up, please.”

Charlie raised an eyebrow at that. “Aren’t you a bit young to be getting alcohol?”

“Jeez, how young do you think I am? I should probably take that as a compliment, but seriously?” The girl took her glass back and had a sip. “I’m Rika, by the way.”

“Charlie Martin.” He offered her his hand and they shook. “You look familiar…have I seen you around, lately?”

“I’m one of the competitors for the tournament,” Rika replied. “And I know I’ve seen you around. You’re the guy with the Absol, aren’t you?”

“Yeah! How’d you know?”

“Not many people brave enough to walk around a ship at sea with one. I kept hearing the sailors talking about it.”

“Oh. Right.” Charlie simply sighed at that and returned to his drink. “So, you’re a competitor? Made it to round three, then?”

“Yeah, and so did you, right? I remember watching all the fights from last round, and you won. Got to say, you made Matthew rather impressed.”

Charlie seemed confused by that, so Rika pointed over to a young, black-haired man in sunglasses. “My friend. He decided to come along with me, for…some reason. Actually, I have a bit of a favor to ask you that involves him.”

“Ok?” Charlie wasn’t sure exactly where this was going.

“Could you exchange your record with me on my SmartDex?” She pulled out her device and held it in front of her. “I’m in a competition with him and I REALLY want to win this, so…please, Charlie?”

Charlie let out a single laugh and exchanged his record with her. “There you go. And good luck with your next round!”

“Thanks! You too!” She took another sip of her wine, taking the glass with her as she approached one of the other competitors, this one carrying around a coal miner’s hat like a good luck charm.

Yeesh. The third young girl I’ve seen so far that’s a competitor. How does Sinnohmin KNOW all these people? Charlie got his water glass refilled and returned just in time to see the aftermath of Mr. Sinnohmin and Vera Anne’s battle against the scientist, Dreyfus. Charlie remembered that he was another contestant. Hope his Pokémon can rest up quickly before the next round.

“And now, Ladies and Gentlemen!” Sinnohmin loudly proclaimed to the crowd, raising his hands for silence. “We shall be making our way to the third round of the tournament. Please make your way to the ship, we will be arriving there tomorrow morning!” The crowd began to clap appreciatively and made their way to the various passenger boats that allowed access between the island and the Shugarbomb. Charlie finished his drink and went along with the rest of the group. He did, however, turn back and see Rika talking with Matthew, clearly having some sort of heated discussion. Even from a distance, tears were visible on Rika’s face, and Matthew was just standing there, when he suddenly kneeled down.

Well, that’s interesting, thought Charlie. He decided to give the two some space, hoping that whatever those two were doing, it would work out for the best.

As for what the next round might entail, Charlie was actually starting to look forward to it. The previous two had had interesting locals, the first being in the streets of the city and the second using the boat itself, so the third round arena would probably be something interesting, like a very small deserted island, or something interesting like…

“…an active VOLCANO???”

Charlie could only stare as the yacht sailed closer and closer to the smoke-bellowing mountain. This had to be a joke, this SURELY had to be a joke.

“Why of course, my good man!” Charlie looked behind him and saw Mr. Sinnohmin, all dressed up in island gear with a hula skirt and armbands and little else. “Need to keep things interesting, after all! Now, go change up! You don’t want to keep everyone waiting!”

Sinnohmin ran off, making his way towards one of the passenger boats. Charlie could only groan. “Well, guess I won’t be wearing a jacket today.”