The passage was deserted.
A long-haired man in a baseball cap strode down it.
An orange Rotom Phone floated beside him, its screen showing a fierce Pokémon battle.
The man wore a faint smile. Far ahead, a dazzling white light shone.
As he continued forward, the cheers that had come only from the phone's speaker flooded his ears. The blurry white light suddenly opened into a vast, brightly lit Arena.
Every seat in the surrounding stands was filled. The crowd surged with excitement, most faces alight with fervor.
Above the field,
a brilliant glow and dark storm clouds each occupied half the sky, an oddly harmonious sight. Below, a deep-blue hurricane carried a roaring dragon of multicolored flame straight into Turtonator with staggering force!
Boom!!
The huge Turtonator flew backward under the man's gaze. The spikes on its shell struck the wall, triggering a terrible explosion against the Protective Barrier.
The Rotom Drone announced that Turtonator was Unable to Battle. Raihan had one Pokémon left.
"Looks like I made it," the man said with relief.
"Champion! Champion!"
Someone called urgently from behind him.
A person ran up to him, panting, then put on a smile. "Why didn't you tell us you were coming? We could've picked you up!"
"No need to go to all that trouble. I'm just here to watch the battle."
The man they called Champion—the strongest Trainer in the Galar Region, Leon—pressed down the brim of his cap.
In truth, he had gotten lost on the way. After wandering around the Wild Area for ages, he had finally found Hammerlocke and Hammerlocke Stadium, despite having visited both countless times.
Of course,
that was a minor detail hardly worth mentioning.
Leon declined the organizers' invitation to the VIP room. He thought the view from where he stood was