Pokemon Gates To Infinity The Novel Series 2

Episode 3 The League Starts

Two months later. Ash and his pokemon has been trained and ready for this tournament while Ritchie and his pokemon were armed to teeth. Ash's friends were waiting for their best friend to come and Ritchie as well.

"They're not here yet." Misty stood at the entrance of the Pokemon Center along with Brock, Zack, Molly, and Tomo. Amber would be coming with Delia and Professor Oak, so it was just the four of them that decided to come ahead of time. It was the day before the Indigo Plataeu, and they were just waiting for not only Ash to show up, but Ritchie, too.

"Don't worry, they'll be here," Brock puts a hand on her shoulder in assurance, "Ash isn't the type to come here late, and there's no way Ritchie will miss this."

Misty relented, knowing Brock was right.

"Today is just the opening ceremony anyway, so things are okay for now." Zack commented.

"Sorry to keep you guys waiting." A familiar voice gets their attention. Turning around in unison they saw it was both Ash and Ritchie, with some differences. The two of them looked slightly taller, their facial features a little more refined, all in all, they both looked different since the last time they saw them.

"You're here!" Misty came up to the two, giving them both a hug, and made sure to hug both Pikachu and Sparky, too.

Ash gave her a warm hearted chuckle, "We meant to get here yesterday, but I wanted to greet Aunt Aida since I hadn't seen her in a long time."

"We had fun." Ritchie grinned.

"Pika pikachu (His mom still pulled on my cheeks too tightly)." Sparky grumbled.

Pikachu nodded in agreement.

"Mom and Professor Oak aren't here, yet?" Ash inquired as he was looking for his mother and surrogate grandfather.

"They'll be here along with Amber either today or tomorrow." Brock tells him.

"Okay, why don't we go get registered, Ritchie."

"You got it." Ritchie gave him the thumbs up.

As they entered the Pokemon Center they saw that there were already some trainers there, just standing around and talking to each other. Both boys went up to the front desk where Nurse Joy was standing there with a pleasant smile on her face like always. Without wasting any time, they showed her the required badges before she gave them what they needed to show that they are approved competitors. With that out of the way the gang decided to leave the Pokemon Center and look outside as they saw a crowd was gathering outside, waiting for someone to show up.

"What are they gathering around for?" Ritchie wondered.

Ash's eyes lit up in remembrance, "They're waiting for the Torch Bearer! The Torch Bearer is the one that lights up the huge flame that burns throughout the entire Indigo Plataeu Conference!"

"Wow, so it's a really big deal, huh." Ritchie commented.

"It is. The reason why is because it's rumored that the flame is from the legendary pokemon Moltress." Ash said with a smile.

Ritchie and Misty gasped, "Moltress?!"

"That's right, now you see why the person who runs with the flame is a big deal now?" Brock asks them.

They both nod.

"Hey, I think I see the runner now." Zack points to the front.

Sure enough, someone was indeed running with the torch in hand. He was being escorted by an Officer Jenny, and before Brock could get any funny ideas, Misty had yanked him by the ear real quick. Didn't stand a chance. The Torch Bearer waves to the crowd as he runs past them with a goodhearted smile on his face. The crowd waves back at him, Ash and the gang included in that wave.