Good reason to delay the Sinnoh League?

[chickenperson52]

I'm writing Pokemon fanfic for NaNoWriMo this year, and I've stumbled onto a problem. Having severely injured Ash, I now need a plausible reason for the Sinnoh League to be delayed so that he can recover enough to compete. The League needs to be delayed about a month, and it needs to be something that doesn't invite a lot of suspicion, so no sudden criminal attacks. Beyond that, I'm not sure what would be realistic. Does anyone have any thoughts?

 

[Zekurom]

Perhaps one of the league officials (say, one of the Elite Four) gets severely ill.

 

[Legacy]

Is there a way to adjust the timing of Ash's injury so that it is a race against time to get well before the League starts? It could lead to some suspicions from readers since a big competition like that likely wouldn't be delayed for anything short of some sort of big disaster. It could also appear forced if Ash's recovery coincides with the delayed start of the League.

But it seems like you have given it a good deal of thought, so Im sure you can make it work!

Maybe a natural disaster occurs in the area of the League? That's the only scenario I can think of right now that isn't criminal in nature.

 

[Dorothy]

Perhaps some bureaucrat thinks the stadium is unsafe and insists on it being checked?

 

[chickenperson52]

Is there a way to adjust the timing of Ash's injury so that it is a race against time to get well before the League starts? It could lead to some suspicions from readers since a big competition like that likely wouldn't be delayed for anything short of some sort of big disaster. It could also appear forced if Ash's recovery coincides with the delayed start of the League.

But it seems like you have given it a good deal of thought, so Im sure you can make it work!

Maybe a natural disaster occurs in the area of the League? That's the only scenario I can think of right now that isn't criminal in nature.

The problem with moving the injury is that this part of the story takes place in the gap between the Sinnoh Grand Festival and the Sinnoh League, which isn't a long period of time as it is. If I move it up, I have to address the Grand Festival, which adds to the problem. The way my story is moving now, Ash's Pokemon are going to battle through the first part of the League without him there already, but even then I have to delay the League to make it a plausible recovery time.