"You're not that bad, kid."
Edie froze for a moment.
It wasn't exactly the words that confused him.
It was the person who had said them.
Standing in front of him was a girl he could have recognized on any screen, even though he had never imagined he would actually meet her in person.
She looked to be about two years younger than him. Her dark skin contrasted strikingly with her long black hair, streaked with blue highlights that framed her face. But it was her eyes that drew the most attention: blue, intense, and piercing.
Edie had seen that face hundreds of times.
In games.
In pictures.
In videos.
On screens.
But this was different.
This was Nessa.
The real Nessa.
For a few seconds, his brain simply refused to accept it.
It took him a moment to connect the three-dimensional model he knew so well with the flesh-and-blood girl standing right in front of him.
Nessa wore simple athletic clothes suitable for battle. Beside her stood a huge, imposing Drednaw, silently observing everything, as though it was so accustomed to its Trainer's presence that it no longer needed to react to the people around them.
Edie opened his mouth.
No words came out.
Then, without realizing it, the name slipped from his lips.
"Nessa?"
The girl stopped.
Her eyes immediately turned toward him.
She tilted her head slightly to the side, confused.
"You know me?"
The question hit Edie like a punch.
His brain froze.
For a second, he had the same feeling as a diver who had spent far too long underwater and, upon finally reaching the surface, discovered that his lungs had forgotten how to breathe.
Shit.
He needed an answer.
Now.
Nessa's eyes remained fixed on him.
Drednaw also seemed to notice the boy's hesitation.
Edie quickly glanced at the Pokémon before looking back at Nessa.
"Yes! I mean... no! Well... yes, but not exactly!"
Nessa raised an eyebrow.
Edie closed his eyes for a moment.
Congratulations, Edie. Excellent start.
"You're one of the competitors in the tournament, right?" he continued, trying to regain his composure. "I kind of... looked through the names of the participants before the battles."
It was a lie.
A terrible lie.
But it was the only thing he had managed to come up with.
Edie quickly glanced around.
Everyone in the resting area was either part of the tournament staff or a competitor. No one seemed to be paying attention to their conversation.
Or at least, he hoped they weren't.
Still, he could feel a few eyes on him.
Nessa remained silent for a few seconds.
Then she closed her eyes and gave a small nod.
"Researching the other challengers before the tournament..." she murmured. "Smart tactic. I have to admit."
Edie released a breath he hadn't even realized he was holding.
It worked.
"You know my name, but I don't know yours."
Edie immediately extended his hand.
His smile still looked a little forced.
"Edward. But you can call me Edie."
Nessa looked at his outstretched hand.
For a second, she seemed to consider whether she should shake it.
Then she smiled.
And shook his hand.
"It's a pleasure to meet you, Edie."
"Likewise."
Edie tried to look natural.
He failed miserably.
Nessa released his hand and crossed her arms.
Her eyes slowly traveled up and down the boy.
"You fight well."
Edie blinked.
"Thank you."
"Is this your first tournament?"
"It is."
Nessa looked surprised.
"Seriously?"
"Yeah."
She glanced toward the battlefield before looking back at him.
"To be honest, I didn't expect to find a competent Trainer here."
The sentence came out so naturally that Edie almost didn't notice the problem.
Until he did.
He shrank slightly.
Several nearby Trainers immediately looked in their direction.
One narrowed his eyes.
Another scoffed.
A third simply crossed his arms.
Edie felt a chill run down the back of his neck.
No. No, no, no.
Nessa, apparently oblivious to the hostile looks, continued staring at Edie.
"I mean..." she added, glancing around. "It's just a beginner tournament. I expected a little more."
The expressions of several competitors became even more irritated.
Edie swallowed hard.
"Well..."
He looked at the other Trainers.
Then at Nessa.
"I'm sure there are plenty of good Trainers here."
"Really?"
"Of course."
"I haven't found any."
"Maybe you just haven't seen them yet."
Nessa seemed to consider that.
For a few seconds, she remained silent.
Then she shook her head.
"Highly unlikely."
Edie frowned.
"What?"
A small smile appeared on Nessa's face.
"Most likely, the final will be between the two of us."
Edie was surprised.
She said it with almost absurd confidence.
It didn't sound arrogant.
That was worse.
She genuinely believed it.
Nessa turned around and began walking away.
Drednaw immediately followed her, its heavy footsteps echoing across the floor.
"So be careful not to get eliminated before you make it there, Edie."
Edie stood there.
"..."
He watched Nessa casually walk away.
Then he looked at the other competitors.
They were all still staring at him.
Some of them looked like they wanted to rip his skin off.
Edie looked back toward Nessa.
"You could've been a little less direct..."
She didn't even turn around.
"What?"
"Nothing!"
Nessa continued walking.
As if she hadn't just turned Edie into public enemy number one in the entire resting area.
Edie rubbed his face.
"Great."
For a moment, as he watched the girl walk away, someone else came to mind.
Alyssa.
For a brief second, it was as though he could see Alyssa walking in Nessa's place.
Two completely different girls.
And yet...
Strangely similar.
Not physically.
It was something else.
The way they both carried themselves with that confidence.
That certainty that they could dominate any environment they walked into.
Edie shook his head.
"What a stupid comparison..."
He didn't know why, but the feeling remained.
While Edie tried to figure out how to survive the collective hostility of the other competitors, Alyssa was dealing with a completely different problem.
Or rather...
She was having fun.
"So..."
Alyssa was standing on top of a large, unconscious Aggron.
The Pokémon served as a genuine makeshift podium.
A few meters away from her, more than seven teenagers were kneeling on the ground.
All of them had bruises.
Some had messy hair.
One was clutching his arm.
Another had a black eye.
Their collective expression was a mixture of fear, respect, and pure regret.
Alyssa placed her hands on her hips.
Her eyes slowly moved from one of them to the next.
"Let's try that again."
Silence.
She narrowed her eyes.
"Who's the queen?"
The teenagers looked at one another.
Nobody answered.
Alyssa sighed.
"I didn't hear you."
One of the boys raised his head.
"Alyssa...?"
She tilted her head.
"Hmm?"
"Alyssa is the queen?"
Alyssa made an expression of deep disappointment.
"Is the queen?"
The teenagers looked at one another again.
Then, as though they had just discovered the answer to the most important question of their lives, they all shouted together:
"ALYSSA!"
Alyssa smiled with satisfaction.
"Much better."
She reached into her pocket and pulled out a small pink brass knuckle.
The teenagers' eyes widened.
"ALYSSA!"
"Alyssa!"
"ALYSSA IS THE QUEEN!"
The girl finally smiled.
"Now we're talking."
She put the brass knuckle away.
"You may stand."
The teenagers immediately began trying to get up.
Or at least, they tried.
Some were still far too sore to manage it.
Alyssa crossed her arms, satisfied with the result.
"See? That wasn't so hard."
One of the boys, still on his knees, muttered,
"It was for us..."
Alyssa looked at him.
The boy immediately lowered his head.
"I didn't hear anything."
"Nothing!"
"Good."
A few meters away, however, two people were watching the scene.
Neither of them seemed particularly impressed.
A man who looked to be in his early forties stood with his hands in the pockets of an impeccably tailored beige overcoat.
Underneath it, he wore a black suit.
His medium-length dark hair was beginning to show a few strands of gray. A black-and-gray beard covered part of his face.
He was watching Alyssa.
There was a smile on his lips.
It was an amused smile.
But there was something strange about it.
Something melancholic.
Beside him stood a woman who appeared to be around thirty.
She had short white hair and wore a pair of large black glasses that covered almost the entire upper half of her face.
She looked at Alyssa.
Then at the man.
Her expression showed a mixture of concern and surprise.
Mostly because of his expression.
"You're smiling," she commented.
The man didn't answer immediately.
He continued watching Alyssa.
The girl was still standing on top of the Aggron, basking in the cheers of the defeated teenagers.
"It's been a while," he finally said.
The woman frowned.
"Since when is that a reason to smile?"
The man let out a quiet laugh through his nose.
"Maybe I missed this."
"This?"
He finally tore his eyes away from Alyssa.
The woman remained silent.
She didn't understand.
Or perhaps she understood perfectly.
And that was precisely why she preferred not to ask.
The two remained there, watching the scene for a few more seconds.
Then the man pulled a Poké Ball from inside his overcoat.
He tossed it into the air.
"Go."
A red flash appeared.
When the light faded, a large Alakazam appeared beside him.
The Pokémon held its metallic spoons in its hands and observed the surroundings with alert eyes.
The man slipped his hands back into his pockets.
His smile was gone.
All the lightness from a few seconds earlier had vanished.
His expression became cold.
Heavy.
"We have work to do, J."
The woman immediately nodded.
"Right."
The man gave Alyssa one last look.
She remained completely unaware of their presence.
"Let's go."
Alakazam raised one of its hands.
Light enveloped the three of them.
For a brief moment, their bodies seemed to dissolve into tiny fragments of light.
Then they disappeared.
Without leaving a trace.
As if they had never been there.
Alyssa continued smiling atop her makeshift podium.
Unaware that, only a few meters away, someone had just been watching her.