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The commotion had been broken up by none other than the chairman's assistant, Cereus. Joseph had always felt the [i]slightest[/i] bit of resentment from him. There could only be so many blondies. But either way, it was time for the ceremony to start. The main gym leaders would be out on the field, while the minor league leaders would be on the sidelines. Joseph was perfectly fine being on the sidelines, what with the enormous influx of trainers he just finished fighting, he was kinda tired, all things considered. 

The ceremony itself was about what you'd expect, the chairman introducing the leaders, the crowd cheering, and deafening noise. So much noise. Though there was one discrepancy. Where was Elijah? Or the champion for that matter? Maybe they both coincidentally hot sick? How odd. He noticed a few of his fellow leaders let out their pokemon, so why not join them? Ares or Athena would probably be his best bet, but with how much fighting Ares had been doing, he probably just wanted to rest. Athena it was then. Joseph tapped the button on his pokeball, letting Athena the Aggron out next to him. As she appeared, her metal armor glistened in the various lights. [i][color=d18e54]"Hope you like the celebration, Athena. We wouldn't be here if bot for you guys. Everyone else is either too big, or too tired to come out right now, but have fun and hang out for a while why don't you?"[/color][/i][hr]

The ceremony was over at last, and everyone had started to filter out, and the gym leaders reconvened. From what he could overhear, apparently the champion had gone missing quite suddenly. Either something terrible had happened, or she was planning a [i]really[/i] big surprise party. But apparently, that wasn't important, because who cares about two missing people who are important to one of the biggest events, if not the biggest, in Galar?

As he thought, there were suggestions of what and where to eat. The first thought to cross his mind was Nordin's restaurant, but he didn't exactly seem like the kind of guy who'd treat them for free. Especially with Athena's appetite. Fiona suggested somewhere Johtonian. [i][color=d18e54]"Actually, if you're looking for somewhere Johtonian, there's a place in Hammerlocke that's been around since I was a kid. The folks who run it are a little old now, but they still make good food when I go there on occasion. The place is called 'Surfing Charizard'. It's even got a surfing charizard on the front of the building. I know the owners pretty well, so I could probably call and get us the restaurant reserved if you guys wanted."[/color][/i]