The year was drawing to a close.
"Unbelievable! Urshifu has defeated Meowscarada! Nemona's lost!"
The host's clear but pained voice echoed through the stadium's speakers.
On the field, Nemona's Meowscarada lay unconscious, its Terastal glow fading, while her opponent — the exhausted Rapid-Strike Urshifu — was kneeling, barely able to stay upright after the brutal match.
Nemona, still wearing her Naranja Academy uniform, stood frozen, staring blankly at her fallen partner.
"Meowscarada is unable to battle! Urshifu wins!"
"Since all six of Nemona's Pokémon are unable to battle, the challenger, Gloria, is victorious!"
The referee's announcement came solemnly, though even he couldn't hide a trace of sympathy.
"I… I did it!"
The small girl in a round cap — Gloria — raised her tiny fist in joy, her pale face bright with excitement.
"Nemona actually lost,"
From the audience stands, Lacey gasped.
"It was so close… just a few more seconds and she might've turned it around," Rika sighed softly.
Indeed, the Urshifu had been at its absolute limit.
"This was the final day of the qualifiers, too. Losing her Master Class spot now is just too cruel," Lacey said, her tone full of regret.
Yes — today marked the last day of the World Championship preliminaries.
From tomorrow onward, the competition would move into the second half. The rankings at the end of today would become the official standings.
Nemona had only recently climbed into the Master Class, but Gloria had immediately challenged her — and won.
"Still," Rika said, "it's not the end. There'll be another chance in the second stage."
It was disappointing, but the hope wasn't gone yet.
At the Rota Gym, Kanto —
"Big brother, Gloria just beat Nemona," Lillie said as she entered the courtyard, where Dylan was in deep discussion with Palkia. When they finished, she relayed the news.
"So Gloria's the new eighth Master, huh." Dylan raised an eyebrow.
Four months had passed since the Arceus incident, and the first World Championship was now transitioning to its latter half.
The Pokémon League had decided: the top 32 trainers would advance to the main bracket.
Originally, it was meant to be just the Eight Masters battling in two groups to determine the true Champion — but the League found that too dull.
After all, this world was not the same as the anime — there were far more powerful trainers than anyone had imagined.In novel terms, this was an age where "prodigies bloomed like stars."
Dylan glanced at the current Master Class rankings:
No.1 — DylanNo.2 — RedNo.3 — LeonNo.4 — LeafNo.5 — LanceNo.6 — GiovanniNo.7 — MayNo.8 — Gloria
The list had changed drastically in just half a year.
Both Cynthia and Steven had dropped out, while Blue, who'd been knocked out by Leaf before, had climbed back up… only to get pushed down again in the constant chaos of the rankings.
Especially the No.7 and No.8 spots — they changed almost every week.
Giovanni hadn't tried to climb any higher since his loss to Lance. He'd been quietly training instead — so much so that neither the Viridian Gym nor Indigo Plateau saw him around lately.
But the biggest surprises came from Leaf and Red.
A month ago, Leaf had challenged Lance — and won.
Her Iron Bundle had performed almost flawlessly, defeating both of Lance's Dragonites and holding its own for a long time against his ace. That victory had cemented Leaf's rise.
She even bragged to Dylan for days afterward, reminding him that she had finally taken down Lance — just as he'd once teased her to.
Then came Red's match against Leon.
A duel of two Mega Charizard X — an absolute spectacle — ending with Red's narrow but decisive victory.
As the preliminaries wrapped up, the stage was finally set for the real tournament.
The next morning, the League released an official notice:
To all World Championship participants:
After months of intense battles, the ranking stage has officially concluded.
To those who did not advance — do not despair. The journey of a Trainer never ends, and the world is vast.
For those who did: congratulations! The top 32 Trainers will continue to the next stage of the World Championship, beginning December 1st at Indigo Plateau.
— Pokémon League Official
As soon as the announcement dropped, the comments section exploded.
"Ughhh, it's the end of the year and I still didn't even make Ultra Ball tier!"
"Same here! Think they'll hold another one next year? This is way more fun than Gym Challenges."
"Let's gooo! I wanna see Dylan sweep everyone again!"
"LMAO, the No.1 in the world has zero presence — no one's even challenged him since Cynthia did."
"Kanto's insane, though. Half the Masters are from there!"
"Kanto's Four Elite are unbeatable — wait, which one didn't make it in again?"
Fans were thrilled. For ordinary people, just watching these matches was pure excitement.
White wings gleamed across the sky as Reshiram carried Dylan, Lillie, and Leaf toward Indigo Plateau.
When they arrived, they stepped into the Elite Four's lounge — where everyone was already gathered.
"Well, well, if it isn't our dear Blue," Leaf grinned, spotting the sulking young man. "Funny, I didn't see your name on the Master rankings."
"...Hmph."
Blue's scowl deepened as he turned away.
Yes — our dear Blue was in a foul mood.
Out of the five — the Kanto Champion and Four Elites — he was the only one not in the Master Class.
He'd managed to climb up seven or eight times this year, but every time, before he could even warm his seat, someone would knock him back down.
It was maddening.
What stung most was that he'd even tried challenging Nemona recently… but the League had registered May's request first.
He'd been so close.
"Pfft—"
Leaf couldn't hold back a giggle. Blue's expression was priceless.
"Don't let it bother you," Giovanni said calmly. "The real battles start now anyway."
Indeed, the rankings were just numbers. What truly mattered were the tournament results.
"Exactly!" Blue huffed. "Once the matches start, I'll crush every single one of those annoying rivals!"
"Good luck, Blue!" Leaf cheered with mock enthusiasm, clapping her hands.
Blue twitched.
"There are 32 contestants," Giovanni mused. "So, four rounds total — 32 to 16, 16 to 8, 8 to 4, semifinals, then finals."
"And since we're among the Masters, we get one 'immunity' before the top eight — meaning we're guaranteed at least the round of sixteen," he added with a faint smirk.
It wasn't quite a free pass — but close enough.
Blue winced. He was the only one among them without that privilege.
"Yeah! As long as I don't have to fight Gym Leader Dylan, I can handle anyone!" Leaf said confidently, hands on her hips.
"You're getting bold again, Leaf." Dylan's eyes gleamed dangerously.
"Hehehe…" she chuckled awkwardly, burying her face in her Stufful plushie.
"Wait," Blue said suddenly, his eyes widening. "If matchups are random… doesn't that mean we could end up fighting Dylan?"
"Exactly," Giovanni sighed. "That's what worries me most."
His training had gone well — he felt strong enough now to finally beat Lance.But…
Only if I don't run into Dylan first.
If his "free round" was wasted fighting the world's strongest trainer, he'd probably cough up blood.
The others fell silent.
"Relax, guys," Dylan said with an easy smile. "What are the odds, really? We're all connected by fate, right? The Kanto Four and I won't meet that early."
That… didn't make anyone feel better.
Blue, Giovanni, and Red all exchanged wary looks.
It wasn't that they were afraid of fighting Dylan — they just didn't want to be eliminated early. Losing to him in the semifinals or finals was fine — but in the round of 32 or 16? That would be humiliating.
Then, a spark of mischief lit Blue's eyes. He turned to Giovanni.
"Hey, old man. What if we… like, I dunno — petitioned the League to temporarily ban Dylan from the first two rounds? Think the Chairman would approve?"
Dylan: "???"
(End of Chapter)