A few days passed as the Master Tournament neared its start, and Team Exploration was one of the first to sign up. The buzz around town about the tournament had everyone excited for what was to come as the days flew by.

Jet and Omega were informed that they would get their opponent on the day of the tournament, and that they'd have to choose one team member to battle in the first round.

Jet volunteered to go first for his friend's sake, which Omega appreciated. He just had to hope that their rivals got knocked out early, so they wouldn't have to face the morons on Team Instinct.

The day of the competition came, and by then all the participants had arrived. Pokémon from Dragon Mountain, Malenan mages, multiple teams from the Guild, and Jason, the mysterious Gallade.

The legends about Jason were unclear. The Gallade had allegedly explored many lands and come to Malena on a new quest, but didn't specify what. He did participate in the Master Tournament the year he arrived and every year after, and always managed to get pretty far or win.

Zen had set up a portal in Central Town that participants and spectators would take to get to the site of the Master Tournament. The giant field that surrounded Bridge Tower was where the groups would be battling.

Jet slithered out of their dorm with Omega trailing behind him. "Today's the day buddy! You ready?"

Omega tentatively nodded. "I-I am. A-a-are you? You've got the b-battle today."

Jet grinned. "Course I am, bud! I'm sure whoever it is that I'm up against won't stand a chance!"

"Oh really? Well good news then!" Friction said as she drifted up to the duo. "Your first match is against one of the Mismagius!"

Jet's jaw nearly dropped. "O-oh, really?"

Friction nodded and Omega began to shake. "D-don't they have mysterious m-magic attacks?"

"Sure do! Plus they were the ones who built Bridge Tower and sealed away Shadow Rayquaza!" Friction continued to list off their achievements absentmindedly. Her ears perked up and she turned to look at Team Maximum. "Oh shoot! I gotta tell them they're up against Zax and Alpha! Darn it! Pretend you didn't hear that!" Friction told the two Pokémon as she sped off.

Jet and Omega didn't say much as they exited the Guild. The Seviper tried to hide his nerves while thinking of potential scenarios when up against the famous magic users. They could probably eviscerate him with ease... but he had to try. He and Omega had worked their butts off to get where they were!

They arrived at the portal and jumped inside, teleporting across the island and into the grassy field that surrounded Bridge Tower.

A line of trees encircled the massive field and a massive marble pillar rose above the clouds. The Tower was constructed in an attempt to reach the above world where Arceus resided. A massive achievement that stood above every other landmark on the continent.

A few other Pokémon drifted around as Zen and Chime worked on creating the battlefields. Jet and Omega struck up conversation with Basher, while more and more Pokémon slowly poured out of the portal.

Before long, Friction was drifting around and organizing everyone for the beginning. Around 50 Pokémon piled into the sidelines and Jet slithered onto one end of the field.

On the other end, a purple mage floated up to face him. A standard grass field. No gimmicks. Jet would need to fight with everything he had.

Friction drifted into the center of the battlefield. "Welcome everyone to round one of the Master Tournament! We have our Guild's own, Jet, as well as a visitor from the Malenan Witches, Mismagius! Good luck to both of you! Remember, no leaving the arena boundaries, the match is over when one Pokémon cannot battle any longer, and no poor sportsmanship is permitted. Now, let the match... begin!"

Friction flew off the field and Mismagius began launching several purple spheres at Jet. He slid across the ground and they exploded all around him. The Seviper poured energy into his tail and swung it into the opposing Pokémon.

The blow made contact and Jet started to back away. He opened his mouth and unleashed a Flamethrower to pile on the damage.

Mismagius shook the blows off and launched a pink fireball into Jet. He was blown back by the move but got back up to counter the next incoming move.

Mismagius began muttering some sort of incantation and Jet's vision became cloudy. Everything seemed to be cloaked in a dark purple as his opponent vanished into the clouds.

A blast of purple energy slammed into the Seviper. He rolled across the ground and looked around to see where the move had come from.

There seemed to be dozens of Mismagius fading in and out of view in the mist. Jet was completely lost trying to figure out what he could do about the situation.

Another blast of energy hit the Pokémon. This was how he would lose. There was no way he could stand up to this mirage. The Mismagius all began to cackle and he tried shooting fire at a few of them. The flames were sniffed out by the mist.

What do I do? How do I hit them? He wondered. Jet suddenly had a thought, what would Omega do. Omega would dig. Jet began slamming his tail into the dirt and kicking up a cloud around him.

The effects of the mirage were impeded by all the dirt and Mismagius started to cough. "Gotcha!" Jet shouted as he jumped into the air.

He crunched down onto his opponent and flung the mage into the battlefield. It was time to finish this. Jet began to descend and swung his tail in front of him. The Pokémon then shot fire into the tip of his blade which coated it in flames.

The combo attack hit its mark, and Mismagius collapsed after the series of blows. A decisive victory for the Seviper. "Mismagius is no longer able to battle! So, Jet of Team Exploration is our winner!" The crowd cheered and Jet slithered up to Omega.

"J-J-Jet you were awesome!" Omega praised.

"I couldn't have done it without you, buddy." Jet told his friend. "I figured I would do what you would do in that situation, and it worked in my advantage."

The two friends continued to chat for a bit before a couple of the Mismagius approached them. "Forgive us for interrupting, we just wanted to say that we were very impressed with your work. You two have a lot of potential."

"Thanks a lot!" Jet replied. "Are you guys going back to the village?"

The speaker shook her head. "No, we're going to stay to the end. Don't let us down, because we will be rooting for you."

Zax and Alpha had struggled to decide which one of them would battle first. Alpha eventually decided he would rather get his part out of the way, and volunteered.

The duo then learned they would be up against Team Maximum, which meant Alpha was a pretty good choice. The Heatmor was as motivated as possible when arriving at the battlefield.

They watched Jet have his battle first, and Alpha was actually impressed with how well Jet handled the illusory attacks of his opponent.

There was another battle to go before it was Alpha's turn, but he could feel his heart racing a bit. This would be his big chance. If Team Exploration won, they would have to as well.

The match taking place before his was Jason versus a Haxorous from Dragon Mountain. The Dragon Representative had likely trained for weeks in preparation for this battle.

Jason hadn't been seen since winning the previous tournament, and he started off with a bang. The Gallade revealed he had mastered Psycho Cut and was now able to hit his foes from afar or up close.

The battle was shockingly one-sided, as Jason maneuvered around the Haxorous until he was able to bring it down with his attacks.

With that battle over, Alpha was now up against Tempre from Team Maximum. The Cryogonal floated onto the battlefield and Alpha pounded his fists together.

The opposing Pokémon started the battle off by shooting a gust containing ice crystals into Alpha. The wind partially froze him, which impeded his maneuverability.

The Heatmor launched a fireball into the sky. The ball of fire remained in the air and started to heat things up. Before he could follow up, Alpha was slammed in the chest by a spinning Tempre.

The snowflake spun away and then shot a beam of ice into the fire type. The blows were weak against Alpha, but he could feel the damage piling up. "Take this!" He shouted as he launched a massive fireball at his opponent.

Just when it seemed like the Fire Blast would engulf its opponent, Tempre began to spin in place and deflected the flames. Tempre then came to a stop and hit Alpha with another Icy Wind.

The Fire-Type struggled to his feet. He couldn't seriously be losing to an Ice Pokémon right now, could he? Alpha shook his head and unleashed a Solarbeam.

The move hit its target, and Tempre crashed down to the ground. Alpha lumbered over to follow up with Thunder Punch, but the ice coating his body impeded him.

Tempre shot back into the air and out of range, and then launched a steely ball into Alpha while he turned to face the Cryogonal.

The damage was piling up and there was seemingly no way of hitting the Pokémon. Alpha was too slow and his strongest move had no effect.

Alpha looked up to see Tempre was starting to spin again. A few more blows from the Pokémon and he'd be a goner... if only. Alpha suddenly had an idea and conjured a fireball in his hands.

Instead of launching it, however, he absorbed the flames and they burned around him. Tempre spun right into his trap and bounced off the burning Pokémon.

The Heatmor then lunged out and slammed his fist into Tempre's eye. The Cryogonal crashed down once again, and Alpha unleashed the full force of his firepower onto the foe.

The massive blast completely engulfed the snowflake, and he was defeated. Alpha had managed to pull out a win.

Zax ran out to the field as Friction made the call and gave the Heatmor a high-five. "That was awesome, dude!"

"Don't mention it," Alpha replied. "Just make sure you're ready, because now you have to fight Jason."