I was going to join the Battle Royal and Fire Trial into one chapter again because if I suck at writing normal battles, I'd rather not touch a free for all. Changed my mind at the last second. But I hope you enjoy the chapter either way.

Chapter 9-Royal Rumble

Arriving at Royal Avenue during the late afternoon with no trouble at all, it was not surprising to see a crowd gathered around the entrance of the Battle Royal. People of all ages were pouring into the stadium, all knowing who was going to be in tonight's main event. Collin and Lillie decided to book a room in the Pokemon Center, due to the fact that they'd be more than likely tired after the battle. Upon exiting the Center, they bumped into some familiar faces.

"Ho oh! If it isn't Mr. Clarkson." said Phyco. "Wasn't expecting to see you so soon." Collin still couldn't get used to being called "Mr. Clarkson" ever since he started teaching, so the fact that he was being called that in front of his girlfriend made him blush.

"I should ask you two the same thing." he responded, snapping out of his blush.

"We were looking for more data on the Z-Crystals, but we heard about this "Battle Royal" here. It peaked our interest." said Soliera.

"Indeed. We haven't seen anything like this from where we come from." said Phyco. "And don't mind me asking, but who are you Miss...?" he said, looking at Lillie.

"Lillie Aether sir." she said. This caused the man to crook his eyebrow up, looking at her.

"Hmm...you wouldn't happen to be related to Lusamine Aether of the Aether Foundation, correct?" he asked.

"I am sir. Lusamine Aether is my mother." she explained. Phyco looked back and did what could be described as a face palm.

"Oh but of course you are. I can see the similarities." he said. "Forgive me, we haven't seen her a lot during our time at Aether Paradise. We've been mostly working with Branch Chief Faba during our stay." Collin couldn't help but scoff at the idea.

"Oh yeah sure. Branch Chief Faba will give you a lot of information alright. Most of is out of his own ass." he said, causing Lillie to giggle. The others didn't seem too pleased. Soliera looked outright pissed.

"Mind your tongue." she hissed. "Branch Chief Faba has helped us with our studies and in return, we give him information he requires." she said, giving Collin the dead eye.

"And what kind of information is this?" asked Lillie.

"Nothing that concerns you." she said harshly.

"Now now Soliera. We mustn't be hostile towards these two." said Phyco, placing his hand on her shoulder. "They asked a simple question, no need to spit venom at them."

"Yes sir." she said, standing back. Something began to beep and Phyco took out a square looking device that didn't look like a phone. "A new message?" she asked.

"Correct. We'd love to stay and chat with you two, but we best be off. We might see you at the Battle Royal, should you come. Until then, goodbye." he said and the two walked away from the couple and off to somewhere else in the Avenue. Collin shook his head, while Lillie looked lost in thought.

"What's up? he asked.

"Oh! Uh...just thinking." she said, looking away for a moment.

"Wanna tell me what you're thinking?" he asked.

"Well...I've been thinking about what those two said about Faba...what were their names again?"

"Phyco and Soliera." he responded.

"Right. Anyway, do you think we should worry about this?" she asked. Collin just scoffed.

"Nah. Faba is a fucking idiot. I doubt we'll have to worry about him." he said. Lillie let out another giggle in response.

"Hehe, true. Still though, I do wonder what he's been telling them and vice versa." she said.

"Something to talk about another time. We best go train up for the Battle Royal tonight. Knowing that Cynthia is there, it's gonna be one hell of a fight."

As predicted, the Battle Royal was full of people, most surrounding one particular room off to the side with guards standing outside. They didn't need to know who was in there, they were more worried about how they were going to get in there. While they were standing in the middle of the massive hall, a guard walked up to the couple.

"You Collin Clarkson and Lillie Aether?" asked the guard.

"Yes that's us." replied Collin.

"Follow me." The guard began to walk over to the room, with the couple following right behind him. They barely managed to pass through the crowd of people, hearing them shouting about how come they don't get to see Cynthia. All the shouting was cut off as the two entered the room and the door was closed behind them. Cynthia was in the room, of course, browsing on her phone before she looked up and smiled.

"Hey you two." she said, greeting them. "I hope everything was okay getting here."

"If by getting shouted and cursed by people, yeah it was okay." said Lillie, dryly. "How can you deal with people like that?" she asked.

"I'm sorry about this. I guess because this is my first time in Alola, people have been a bit extra." she explained. "I can handle it personally, but to see it take effect on my friends, that's what annoys me."

"It's fine. I'm sure I'll get use to it soon enough." said Lillie. "So, you ready for the battle you two?"

"Ready as I'll ever be." said Collin, getting his Pokemon ready.

"So am I, but we still have to wait for our fourth opponent. It was originally going to be The Mask Royal, but he said he has some business to attend to earlier." said Cynthia. "He did however give me this for you Collin." She pulled out a Poke Dex from her pocket and handed it over to him.

"I was wondering when Kukui was gonna finish this." he said, tapping away on the screen.

"HEYZ! Keep off the merchandisezz!" shouted the Poke Dex. This caused Cynthia to jump.

"Sorry Rotom." he said, putting it back into his bag. Cynthia looked extremely confused. "Oh yeah, Kukui put a Rotom in my Poke Dex. I'm sure he'll be able to tell you more about it."

"Not to be impatient, but when is the other person supposed to come?" asked Lillie, interrupting them.

"Well he should be here-" said Cynthia just as there was a knock on the door. "right now actually. Come in!" she shouted. The door opened and entered in a familiar face.

"HAU!" shouted Lillie, rushing up to him and giving him a hug, almost knocking the poor guy down.

"Yeesh Lillie! You got some power behind your hugs!" he said, catching his breath. Lillie let go and Hau walked up to Collin, giving him a quick hug. "How have you been bud?"

"Never better. You?" he asked.

"Been up to my neck in challengers but other than that, fine." he said. Hau then turned to Cynthia and shook her hand. "Thanks for contacting me. Never thought I'd get the chance to face you Cynthia."

"It's no big deal. So, is everyone ready?" she asked. They all nodded and she smiled. "Well then, let's make our way to the main stage. Best of luck to you all." They exited the room to a crowd of people, with guards blocking their way. They got to the main desk and were then directed to separate rooms. They made sure that their chosen Pokemon were healed and about thirty minutes later, the main stage was packed with people. Shortly after, an announcer came on.

"Ladies and gentlemen! Are you ready for tonight's big event?!" shouted the announcer. The crowd went wild, meaning a yes. "Tonight's big fight is possibly one of the greatest match ups in Battle Royal history! Four big named stars will enter, but there will be only one winner. Shall we call them out?" The crowd went wild again. "Alright then! In the blue corner, son of Kahuna Hala of Melemele Island and our current Alola Champion, Hau!" Hau walked out of the room and into the stage. He was met will cheers and yells from the crowd as he made is way to the battle field.

"In the red corner, a Trainer who has traveled across the world and former Champion of Alola, Collin!" Similar to Hau, Collin walked out to the stage and cheers were heard all around.

"In the green corner, the daughter of Lusamine Aether and powerful Trainer in her own right, Lillie!" Lillie shyly walked out and waved to the crowd and made it to her corner, facing the boys.

"And finally, in the yellow corner, you all know her as the Champion of Sinnoh. Please give it up for the one and only, Cynthia!" The crowd went even wilder than before as Cynthia strutted her way to the field. With all four Trainers now out, the battle was about to start. "You all know the rules, the first Pokemon to be knocked out ends the battle. Who ever is the healthiest wins. So with that out of the way, LET'S GET READY TO RUMBLE!" shouted the announcer. A counter appeared and as soon as it hit zero, the match began.

The match was, as best described by the announcer, red hot. Lillie used her Alolan Vulpix, Collin used Decidueye, Hau used Primarina and Cynthia used Garchomp. Everything seemed neck in neck for the most part, with each one countering with moves. But it turns out the winner, of course, was Cynthia. The crowd went wild with the results and there was photos taken all over the place. It was hell to get out of the stage, as all four were surrounded by fans asking for autographs. Thankfully the guards managed to block them off as they made their way to the Pokemon Center.

"Fuck sake!" shouted Collin as the doors closed behind them. "I feel bad for celebrities now."

"Tell me about it." said Hau, taking a long stretch. "I'm going to go hit the sack. I might not see you two tomorrow, I have a few challengers. But I should be free for a while, so I might tag along with you when you get to Ula Ula. Sound fair?" he asked.

"Of course Hau. We'd love to have you come with us." said Lillie. "Right Collin?"

"Yeah sure. We need to catch up anyway." Cynthia walked up to the small group, yawning.

"I would ask if I could join, but after today, I don't think you three want people following you. So I'll be heading off to Ula Ula tomorrow myself. I'm sure we'll meet up again soon." she said, before waving them off and heading up to the rooms.

"See ya Cynthia." said Collin, before yawning himself. "I guess we all better head to the sack. We'll see you when you finish your challengers Hau."

"You bet buddy. Goodnight you two." he said before going up to the rooms. It was just Lillie and Collin in the main hall now. Not wanting to waste anymore sleep time however, they made their way up to the rooms, while chatting about the day.

"It's amazing how heated up a Battle Royal can be." said Lillie. Collin chuckled and began to think.

"You know what would be crazy...and probably insane? A hundred Battle Royal. Just a hundred Pokemon out on the field, a free for all." The look on Lillie's face was nothing short of bewilderment.

"Collin...that sounds like a really bad idea." she said.

"Yeah you're right, it's stupid. Must be the sleep talking." he says as they entered the room. Immediately they striped and went into bed, sharing a kiss before turning off the lights, ready for the next day.

Fire. Fire was everywhere. The night sky glowed with the shade of orange. There was no sound apart from the crackle of fire. That all changed when the sound of metal being destroyed. No, more like being chewed. The sound was everywhere, and yet he couldn't see anything.

"Hello!?" he called. "Is anyone out there?!" The sound stopped for a moment. "Hey! Anyone out there!?" A different sound was heard, and it sounded like it was coming closer. He realized his mistake too late, as a giant Guzzlord came rushing towards him.

"GROOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" it cried getting closer and closer. He tried to move, but it was no good. Before he knew it, the mouth of the Guzzlord was opened and chomped down on him.

"GAH!?" shouted Collin, waking up from his nightmare. He looked around for a moment, checking his surroundings. He was still in the room he and Lillie rented, and judging by the moonlight coming in from the window, it was still pretty early. He went to look at the clock, only to see Lillie, wide awake, looking at him. "Oh...hey." he said simply. "Why are you up?"

"Because of you." she said. She didn't sound annoyed. Hell, he couldn't really tell how she looked, it was took dark to see.

"Oh, sorry. Go back to sleep." he said turning over. Suddenly, the side lamp was lit up and he turned back to Lillie. He could now see her face, and it was full of concern.

"What happened?" she asked. He knew what she was asking about, but he really didn't want to tell her.

"Nothing." he said, thinking he could dodge the question. Of course, it failed.

"Don't bullshit me Collin." she said bluntly. "You were having a nightmare. You've been having them ever since I came back and you keep coming up with an excuse. I hate seeing you barely getting sleep because of this. Just tell me, please." she begged. Collin let out a sigh and laid back down on the pillow.

"I'm in Hau'oli City. It's burned to the ground, with no one in sight. No bodies. Buildings are crumbled up messes and there is fire everywhere." he said. Lillie looked at his face, taking in every word as he continued. "Then, the Ultra Beast Guzzlord comes out of nowhere and runs towards me. After that I wake up."

"It sounds horrible." she says. "But I'm sure it's just a nightmare and nothing else."

"How can you be sure?" he asked sitting back up. "It feels real. Like this can happen at any time. And I'm terrified, I don't know what to do should it happen." The felt tears falling from his eyes. He was truly scared of his nightmare. Lillie wasted no time and wrapped her arms around him.

"Shh." she whispered to his ear. "It's going to be okay. It's not going to happen. And if it does, we'll take care of it together." she said. He didn't answer and just laid on her shoulder. She began to slowly rub his back as they laid back down on the bed. They stayed their in silence before one of them spoke.

"I don't want anything to happen to you. That would be worse than death." said Collin. Lille began to stroke his hair in response.

"None of that now, Just go to sleep." she whispered softly. Sure enough, sleep overcame him and he was now laying on her shoulder, fast asleep. She didn't mind of course, as she needed the comfort as well. He wasn't the only one with nightmares after all.

How was that? I'm sorry these aren't coming out as close as the last fic. Things are getting busy. I hope you understand. Reviews and comments of any nature are welcomed and as always, I'll see you in the next chapter. Cheerio!

Update: On Hold

Hey all. So...bad news. Due to getting busy now and the fact I ran out of steam for this story, I have decided to put it on hold. I know not many of you read it but if you happen to read this, sorry. I will come back to it, I just don't know when. Could be a month or two for all I know. I really didn't want to do this, but I felt as though I'd hurt myself forcing something out. I hope you understand and thank you so much for reading both this and The Alola Adventure. With that in mind, I'll see you in the next chapter. Cheerio!