It was finally time. After months of earning badges and training, Brendan was finally ready for his League debut. He had dreamed of one day entering the League, and now, there he stood, waiting to enter onto the largest battlefield Hoenn had to offer. His preliminary match was against a kid named Jerald. According to his statistics, he was a fairly accomplished trainer.

Brendan stood at the end of his tunnel, waiting to be called out to battle. Tim's match had just ended with his Conkelder easily brushing aside his opponent's Armaldo with a well placed Hammer Arm followed by a Stone Edge that knocked Armaldo down and out.

"Armaldo is unable to battle! Conkelder wins, which means the victory goes to Tim!" The ref declared.

Tim recalled his Pokémon and turned to walk back inside the tunnel in the green corner, where Brendan stood in wait.

"That seemed a little too easy for you out there," Brendan said as Tim walked up next to him.

"That Armaldo was actually pretty decent. If his trainer used a better strategy, he might have stood a better chance. Gotta give him credit for trying though," Tim replied.

"I guess you're right," Brendan stated, turning to see his picture appear on the score board.

"Looks like I'm up. Wish me luck," Brendan said as he casually walked out onto the platform in the green corner.

"Try not to go too hard on the guy," Tim laughed, getting a wave from Brendan as he walked.
_______________________________________

Brendan's family as well as May's, sat in the stands in the same row. With them were Derrick, Lisia and Courtney.

"There's Brendan!" Mrs. Birch pointed out. "I love you sweetie! Do your best!" She exclaimed, waving frantically.

"Go get'em son!" Professor Birch cheered.

Courtney sweat-dropped at the enthusiasm of Brendan's parents. Courtney looked down at the field to see Brendan staring back at her. She smiled and blew him a kiss which he pretended to catch and place over his heart.

Go for it Brendan. I know you can win! She thought, her eyes now focused on the match at hand.

"Our next match is between Jerald and Brendan! Keep in mind that this will be a one on one battle. Trainers! Send out your Pokémon!" The judge announced.

"Heracross, let's battle!" Jerald shouted, releasing the Single Horn Pokémon from his chambers.

"Arcanine, battle's on!" Brendan hollered, sending the Legendary Pokémon into battle.

"Begin!" The judge commanded, swinging his hand down to signal the start of the battle.

"Heracross, use Stone Edge!" Jerald commanded.

"Iron Tail!" Brendan countered.

Several large stones formed around Heracross before being fired at the fiery canine. As the attack closed in, Arcanine coated his tail with steel and swung hard at the assault, effectively dispersing it before any damage could be done. As Arcanine came out of the swing, a Hammer Arm connected with his right flank which caused him to stumble. Digging his heels in, he retaliated with a Flamethrower that launched Heracross back across the battlefield.

"What a ferocious battle we are witnessing! These two are really going at it!" The announcer exclaimed.

Heracross surged forwards, wings buzzing rapidly as he charged in with a Megahorn attack. Arcanine sidestepped Heracross and rounded on him with a powerful Fire Blast which sent Heracross skidding across the ground, only to stop in front of his trainer, steam rising from his unconscious form.

"Heracross is unable to battle! Arcanine wins! The victory goes to Brendan!" Declared the judge as his hand went up.
_______________________________________

"Way to go Brendan!" Lisia cheered.

"That's my boy!" Professor Birch exclaimed as he watched Brendan step off the battlefield after shaking his opponent's hand.

That's my man, thought Courtney with a smile.

"Our third match for today will be between May Maple and Janis!" The announcer echoed as the pictures of the two women appeared.
_______________________________________

This is it May. No room for error here. Let's just get out there and do it! May coached herself.

May spotted Brendan walking into the tunnel and smiled.

"Good work out there Brendan! You got him good. I was rooting for you," May said excitedly.

"Thanks and best of luck to you in your match. Knock'em dead May," Brendan replied, raising his hand for a high-five which May accepted.

"I'll do my best!" May chirped, making her way onto the field.
_______________________________________

"May! You're awesome!!" Lisia called out, getting the brunette's attention.

"You can do it sweetheart!" Mrs. Maple cheered loudly.

Norman sat there, a proud smile on his face as his daughter stood on the battlefield of her very first League match.

You've grown up so fast, haven't you May? I'm so proud of you. Now, show your old man what you've learned.
_______________________________________

"Our third matchup between May and Janis will now commence! Trainers! Send out your Pokémon!" Boomed the judge.

"Blaziken, you're up!" May called out, releasing her first companion onto the battlefield.

The Blaze Pokémon exploded onto the battlefield and flared up his wrists, showing he was ready to do battle with whatever Janis had prepared.

"Toxicroak, time to battle!" She cried out, firing the Toxic Mouth Pokémon into the fray.

Both Pokémon stared each other down, waiting for their trainers to give a command.

"Begin!"

"Toxicroak, use Bounce!" Janis commanded.

"After it and use Thunder Punch!" May countered.

Toxicroak bended his knees and then lifted off high into the air. Blaziken took off after it, his fists alight with electricity. Toxicroak charged his fists with poison and the two began trading blows in mid-air. The two eventually broke apart and faced one another.

"Not bad May. And here I thought you were just a contest battler, but it seems you can battle quite well," Janis remarked.

"Thanks, I trained hard for this," May replied with a smirk. "You're also not so bad yourself."

"Thanks for the compliment. Now, shall we continue? Toxicroak, Gunk Shot!" Janis commanded.

"Flamethrower!" May retaliated.

A black bag of garbage formed above Toxicroak's hands as he gathered toxic energy into it, giving the attack a toxic purple glow before chucking it at Blaziken. Swiftly, Blaziken launched a ferocious Flamethrower ag the attack and eradicated it. The Gunk Shot served as a distraction as Toxicroak shot in with a Poison Jab that nailed Blaziken several times in the abdomen.

Blaziken stumbled back, clutching his stomach after the assault. Sparks of violet energy crackled around Blaziken, signaling that he was poisoned. Toxicroak went in for another assault only to be met with a Blaze Kick that sent him flying into the air.

"Cross Chop!" Janis commanded hastily.

"High Jump Kick!" May ordered.

Toxicroak crossed his arms and dove down towards Blaziken. The Blaze Pokémon kicked off the ground and swung his leg upward. A solid connection was made, breaking up Toxicroak's attack and sending him plummeting to the arena floor. Toxicroak crash landed and struggled to get up, only to be met with a Blaze Kick which put him out of commission.

"Toxicroak is unable to battle! Blaziken wins the match. The victory goes to May!" Voiced the judge.
_______________________________________

"That's my girl!" Norman cheered.

"Oh yeah, way to go May!" Derrick and Lisia exclaimed.
_______________________________________

The day wore on, and one by one trainers were eliminated. Out of the one hundred and twenty eight trainers, half of them were already eliminated. This meant that the start of the second set of matches before the qualifiers would be under way the next day.

Brendan was seated in the lounge that evening with Courtney and the others. Wally and Billy made it into the next round as well and were, with the group.

"This is so cool! I can't believe I'm here!" Billy exclaimed happily.

"Glad to see you made it. You did well out there," Brendan pointed out. "Same to you Wally."

"Thanks! I was so nervous. There were so many people out there," Billy cringed.

"It was a bit scary," Wally agreed.

"I know how that feels," Courtney admitted.

"So what's the schedule like for tomorrow? Do we know who we're facing?" May queried.

"Not sure, let's have a look," Katrina replied, taking out her gear to check the schedule.

"Huh. None of us are facing each other, so that's good news. Tomorrow's gonna be a long day since sixty-four trainers need to be reduced to eight in order for the qualifiers to begin," Katrina informed the group, putting away her gear.

"That's not too bad. Hopefully we'll all make it there and be able to face off against one another," Wally inputted.

"Yep! So let's all do our best!" May cheered.

Brendan stood up and yawned. "Well, if it's all the same to you guys, I'm gonna get some rest," Brendan stated, Courtney standing to follow him.

"Ditto! I'm beat. Catch you guys in the morning!" May said as she walked off to her room where Derrick had already crashed.

The rest of the group slowly filed out and turned in for the night.
_______________________________________

The prelims are nearly over! I know the battles are rather short, but it's to speed up the first rounds and get to the more hardcore semi-finals. I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. Be ready for the next one!