As the last fireworks faded and the Indigo League stage lights dimmed, trainers began to disperse from the grand hall, their faces brimming with determination and pride. Conversations and laughter echoed throughout the stadium's corridors, but Tharion's focus was fixed solely on one person.
She was walking quietly toward the exit, her black hair swaying with each step, the glint of her crescent-shaped necklace catching his eye again. That faint light tugged at something deep inside him — something old, something painful.
Tharion tightened his grip on his gloves and took a breath before calling out softly, "Wait—"
The girl stopped and turned, her gaze steady yet curious. Up close, her eyes were an unusual deep silver, clear and reflective like moonlight.
"I need to ask you something," Tharion said, his tone calm but edged with the weight of something more. "That necklace… where did you get it?"
She looked down at it for a brief second, her fingers brushing the charm. "This? I've… had it since I was a child. My mother said it was left with me when I was found at the edge of the northern woods."
Tharion's heart skipped a beat. His eyes softened, yet confusion rippled through his mind. "I… know that necklace. I gave one exactly like that to someone a long time ago."
The girl blinked, startled by the sincerity in his voice. "You must be mistaken," she said quietly, but there was a slight tremor beneath her calm.
He shook his head. "Maybe. But I've been having dreams—no, memories—ever since I saw you. A world burning in war. A girl standing beside me, wearing that same pendant." His gaze dropped, haunted. "We were about to start a life together… before everything was gone."
The silence between them grew heavy. The bustling noise of the other trainers faded into a distant hum. She looked at him with wide eyes — the calmness now replaced by something closer to fear, or maybe disbelief.
Then, softly, she whispered, "I've been having dreams too… no, nightmares. Every night since the qualifiers began. I see flames. I see shadows swallowing cities, and a voice—someone calling my name—" She clutched her necklace tightly. "And when I saw you during the ceremony, it felt like the voice in my dreams finally had a face."
Tharion exhaled slowly, his chest tightening. The world seemed to narrow down to just the two of them — standing amidst echoes of something neither could fully remember, yet both could feel.
He stepped closer, lowering his voice. "If this is just coincidence, it's too perfect to ignore. Maybe… this world isn't the first for either of us."
Her eyes flickered with unease, then steadied with resolve. "Then we'll find the truth together," she said firmly. "I don't want to keep dreaming about that night without knowing what it means."
Tharion nodded. "Agreed. After the League, we'll look into this — properly."
She extended her hand. "My name is Selene."
Tharion hesitated for a moment before taking her hand gently. "Tharion."
Their handshake lingered a little too long, the air between them charged with something unspoken — not just recognition, but a strange familiarity neither could explain.
Before either could speak again, the League announcer's voice echoed through the loudspeakers above, calling all trainers to the dorm halls for the first round match schedules. The noise broke the trance between them, and Selene gave a small nod before stepping back.
"I'll see you in the arena then, Tharion," she said, her tone softer now.
He watched her leave, the pendant at her neck glinting under the hall lights — the same shape as the one from his dream. The same symbol of a world that had vanished.
As she disappeared into the crowd, Tharion whispered under his breath, "Selene… if you really are her, then this time—I won't fail to protect you." as he stands alone in the empty corridor, the faint hum of the League stadium behind him, and the ghost of his past life awakening once more in his heart.
The arena was a whirl of light, sound, and energy as the Indigo League's main battles roared into their final stages. Tharion stood tall on the battlefield, his gaze sharp as ever, while Selene faced her own set of opponents in a parallel match across the stadium. Both were unmatched in skill, yet an unspoken tension ran between them — an almost tangible connection that neither fully understood but both could feel.
Every strike from Tharion's Tyranitar, Lucario, Charizard, Black Gyarados, Ferrothorn, and Noivern left the crowd gasping. Trainers who had made it this far were formidable, yet they crumbled under the calculated strategy, raw power, and synchronicity of Tharion and his Pokémon. The seismic force of Tyranitar's moves shook the arena floor; Lucario's aura-imbued attacks blurred with precision; Charizard's flames painted the sky above with streaks of molten orange, and the sleek, dark form of Black Gyarados cut through waves of opposing Pokémon like a shadowed leviathan. Ferrothorn's spikes tore through defenses, and Noivern's sonic booms left opponents reeling.
Meanwhile, across the stadium, Selene's dragons dominated with elegance and unrelenting force. Her Garchomp and Hydreigon cut through battlefields with deadly precision, while her other favorites — Pokémon she had bonded with deeply — added layers of tactical complexity, their types and moves complementing each other in ways that mirrored Tharion's own team. Every time she struck, she felt the same eerie pull, a subtle recognition, as if the aura of her unknown partner whispered across the air.
The crowd was caught in a mixture of awe and disbelief. Few had seen such displays of synergy. Trainers' Pokémon struggled to keep pace, and some were completely overwhelmed, retreating with awe and fear. Thunder claps from Black Gyarados, firestorms from Charizard, and the aura pulses from Lucario combined with Tyranitar's ground-shaking force made even seasoned trainers tremble. Across the arena, Selene's dragons exhibited a majestic terror, their roars echoing as trainers and Pokémon alike felt the weight of their power.
Nina sat in the upper gallery, carefully placed there by none other than Charles Goodshow himself, chairing the Pokémon League Torch Committee. She was perched atop the elevated platform, her small frame dwarfed by the grandeur of the stadium, yet her eyes sparkled with pride. Luxray curled around her legs while Boldore and Haunter stood watch, sensing the electricity in the arena. From her vantage point, she could see every detail — the precision of Tharion's attacks, the raw ferocity of Selene's dragons, and the awe-stricken reactions of the audience below.
In the heat of their respective matches, both Tharion and Selene felt it — the aura, the whisper of a memory neither had fully recalled yet both recognized. Their Pokémon's movements were instinctive, harmonized with their trainers' unspoken intent. It was as though the same dreams that had haunted them were guiding their hands and hearts in perfect synchrony.
Finally, after a cascade of decisive strikes, strategic retreats, and flawless counters, both Tharion and Selene emerged from their respective matches victorious. Their opponents were exhausted, overwhelmed, and unable to respond to the relentless precision of the trainers' command.
The stadium erupted. Cheers, claps, and whistles filled the air. The announcer's voice boomed across the loudspeakers, cutting through the chaos:
"Ladies and gentlemen, the finalists of the Indigo League — Tharion and Selene!"
The roar of the crowd intensified, a thunderous wave of approval and excitement. Flags waved, camera flashes flickered, and the energy of the audience surged, as the two trainers stood at opposite ends of the arena, finally facing each other. Though their Pokémon were formidable, the true spectacle was the unspoken bond between the trainers themselves, the echo of a past neither could fully name, yet both were drawn to.
Nina clapped her hands softly, smiling from her elevated seat, while Luxray's tail flicked in approval. Tharion's team, sensing the final challenge ahead, tensed in unison, and Selene's dragons roared in response, creating a symphony of power and anticipation.
As the final chapter of the qualifiers closed and the stadium lights shone down on the two destined trainers, the scene froze for a moment — the calm before the storm, the pause before the clash that would define not just the Indigo League, but the mysterious bond that connected Tharion and Selene across worlds.
And there, amidst the cheers and anticipation, the stadium seemed to hold its breath, waiting for the next battle to begin.