Hammerlocke stood at the heart of the Galar Region, steeped in history. Many of its buildings incorporated the remains of medieval city walls. It had once been Galar's largest city, until Wyndon overtook it a few years ago.
Mingyou and Akari had come from Spikemuth for the rank-swap match at noon. Gloria, Marnie, and Leon had come along too. The concert was still three days away, so they might as well join the excitement.
"Raihan's strong, you know. Even I'd have a tough time beating him without preparing in advance. If you don't bring your best, you'll struggle to win."
Leon folded his arms and spoke with a smile.
He had watched Mingyou's battle with Wallace. He also knew that an ordinary exhibition match wasn't worth either side showing their full strength. A rank-swap match was different, especially with less than a week left in this year's Pokémon World Championships.
The Master Ball tier was no easy place to hold onto without showing some real strength!
The others were curious whether this match would reveal Mingyou's true strength. Even Akari looked at him when the subject came up. She knew he would take the match seriously, but just how seriously was another question.
"Heh-heh~"
Mingyou grinned slyly. Of course he was ready. His opponent was the Dragon Storm, so he would go all out with Dragon-type Pokémon and give the audience a dazzling battle of dragons.
He might not look it, but he was a master of Dragon-type Pokémon himself. He had plenty of them at home, so fielding three would be no problem. And he didn't want any of his Pokémon to miss the Pokémon World Championships the way some had missed the Junior Cup.
Every one of them would get a chance to compete!
When the others learned