September 9.
Jubilife Pokémon Theme Park.
After a spectacular Pokémon fashion show ended,
the curtain surrounding the runway was swiftly removed, with several Corviknight grabbing the entire curtain and flying it into the sky.
Yuka was still the host.
Next came the red-versus-blue water gun battle.
Red and blue had always made a classic pairing.
Of course, they could battle, too.
The afternoon festivities kicked up another notch.
Yuka announced the rules of the water gun battle.
"All participants will be randomly assigned to the Red Team or Blue Team, as indicated by your wristbands."
Yuka waved her left hand.
"And our goal is to capture the flag!"
Then Yuka pointed toward Swan Lake.
Floating platforms built in Swan Lake's shallows held the red and blue team flags.
"Starting from here, the first team to take the flag from the opposing team's platform wins!"
Of course, they could eliminate as many opponents as they liked along the way.
Yuka turned around,
showing everyone her back.
"See the name tag on your back? Once it's completely soaked, you're out."
After explaining the rules, Yuka smiled. "All right, everyone can come up and collect a wristband now."
Ten opaque boxes stood before them, randomly filled with equal numbers of blue and red wristbands.
Each person could take only one.
Red pulled his cap lower. "I'm red!"
Green frowned. "So am I."
Rather than being on Red's team,
Green would have preferred to compete against him.
Yellow blinked. "Oh, I'm on the Blue Team."
The final teams roughly lined up as follows:
Red Team: Akin, Li Wei, Ash, Dawn, Green, Blue, Alice, Tonio, Roxie...
Blue Team: Silver, Lance, Brock, Yellow, Erika, Valerie, Lorelei, Steven, Cynthia...
Diantha and Elesa, who weren't participating,
watched as special guests.
In the shadows, Darkrai was also quietly watching.